“It does,” he admitted. “But what then?”
Miss Cornelia tried to put her case as clearly and tersely as possible.
“It shows that somebody stood there for some time, listening to my niece and Richard Fleming in this room below,” she said.
“All right—I’ll grant that to save argument,” retorted the detective. “But the moment that shot was fired the lights came on. If somebody on that staircase shot him, and then came down and took the blue-print, Miss Ogden would have seen him.”
He turned upon Dale.
“Did you?”
She hesitated. Why hadn’t she thought of such an explanation before? But now—it would sound too flimsy!
“No, nobody came down,” she admitted candidly. The detective’s face altered, grew menacing. Miss Cornelia once more had put herself between him and Dale.
“Now, Mr. Anderson—” she warned.
The detective was obviously trying to keep his temper.