“Before the dinner gong sounded or afterwards?”
“Must have been before, Mr. Bernard. It was before I went into the bathroom and I was in there when the gong sounded, although I didn’t hear it nor Susan’s scream. Anyhow, the patter of feet stopped suddenly and I heard a door close. At least, that was the impression I had.”
Bernard leaned forward.
“Whose door? Where?”
“I couldn’t tell. At the time I hardly thought of it, of course. Took it for granted it was one of the girls. Last night, when I remembered it, I wondered whether I could have heard Isabelle’s or Anita’s door close, so far away in the main building, when my own door was shut. You see, it might have been Miss Mount’s door! The footsteps sounded like a girl, though, which doesn’t make any sense. I suppose the girls were in their rooms. And it wasn’t Miss Mount because she must have been downstairs then. It might have been one of the maids running along the third-floor hall overhead and closing a door up there. Probably it doesn’t mean anything but I thought I’d tell you about it.”
Bernard whistled.
“It may mean more than you think!” he said. He rose ponderously. Landis got up at once. “Anyhow, you were wise to tell us. Thanks! We’ll look in again and keep you posted. In the meantime, don’t worry! We’ll clear up this thing today. I can promise you that.”
Half way to the door Bernard turned his head.
“When we pull off that experiment with the cross-bow at lunch or dinner time we’ll probably have to borrow your guard to make sure nobody gets into the line of fire. There are three doors to the library and reception-room and Landis will be watching the arrow. You won’t mind for those few minutes, will you? You can lock your door on the inside.”
“Oh, no! Don’t worry about me, Mr. Bernard. I’ll be glad to have the mystery solved. The pain in this arm has made me feel confoundedly averse to being shot at again!”