“Stop meeting accusations that haven’t been made. It’s a bad habit. Had you been upstairs earlier that morning?”
“No!”
“Had he, Miss Lowell?”
“Not that I know of.” She spoke slowly, with a drag, as if she had only so many words and had to count them. “Our looking into the drawer was only incidental.”
“Had he, Mrs. Koven?”
The wife jerked her head up. “Had what?” she demanded.
“Had Mr. Hildebrand been upstairs earlier that morning?”
She looked bewildered. “Earlier than what?”
“You met him in the second-floor hall and told him that your husband was still in bed and that Miss Lowell was up in the office. Had he been upstairs before that? That morning?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea.”