“It’s doubtful whether so young a girl would plan to murder her own father,” he admitted. “If she did make such a plan, she’d be a lot more careful not to let the servants or anyone else see her on her way to help Allen execute it. Her lies were stupid—not carefully planned, as Allen would see to it that they were. Allen’s ready confession of a secret marriage, giving a strong motive for murder under the circumstances, would be the last thing he’d admit—if he killed Harrison. Anything else?”
“The main thing is that Allen is intelligent. But he made no careful preparation to hide Anita’s trail. Above all, he made no attempt to throw suspicion elsewhere.”
“There’s no direct evidence anyhow, sir. They lied! But they were in enough of a jam to make them lie!”
Bernard nodded.
“Come on,” he growled, “let’s go back to bed and get some sleep!”
CHAPTER XIX
WHY MRS. GRAHAM SCREAMED
After breakfast next morning the coroner came to the house for Harrison’s body. Landis had a talk with him in the library, promising him a set of photographs in time for the inquest, then telling him Allen’s and Anita’s story in full and asking permission to withhold it at that runction.
The coroner proved intelligent, reasonable and a gentleman. As Landis and Bernard had the case, he promised to call no more evidence than necessary to establish the facts of the murder.
He departed quietly, taking with him Harrison’s body and the three local policemen to leave a clear field.