“As you desire, sir.”
Sproot started to go, but Vance halted him.
“Now that you’re here you might answer one or two questions.”
“Very good, sir.”
“First, I want you to think back very carefully, and tell me if you observed anything unusual when you locked up the house last night.”
“Nothing, sir,” the man answered promptly. “If I had, I would have mentioned it to the police this morning.”
“And did you hear any noise or movement of any kind after you had gone to your room? A door closing, for instance?”
“No, sir. Everything was very quiet.”
“And what time did you actually go to sleep?”
“I couldn’t say exactly, sir. Perhaps about twenty minutes past eleven, if I may venture to make a guess.”