Cleaver apparently had expected the question.
“When I read of the Canary’s death I wanted an alibi; and my brother had just given me the summons he’d been handed in Boonton. It was a ready-made alibi right in my hand. So I used it.”
“Why did you need an alibi?”
“I didn’t need it; but I thought it might save me trouble. People knew I’d been running round with the Odell girl; and some of them knew she’d been blackmailing me—I’d told ’em, like a damn fool. I told Mannix, for instance. We’d both been stung.”
“Is that your only reason for concocting this alibi?” Markham was watching him sharply.
“Wasn’t it reason enough? Blackmail would have constituted a motive, wouldn’t it?”
“It takes more than a motive to arouse unpleasant suspicion.”
“Maybe so. Only I didn’t want to be drawn into it.—You can’t blame me for trying to keep clear of it.”
Markham leaned over with a threatening smile.
“The fact that Miss Odell had blackmailed you wasn’t your only reason for lying about the summons. It wasn’t even your main reason.”