"Patrick."
Mr. Sandal's neat mouth opened and shut like a goldfish's.
He stopped being a green thought in a green shade and became a very worried and staggered little lawyer.
For a long moment he looked into the light Ashby eyes so near his own without finding any words that seemed adequate to the occasion.
"I think we had better both sit down," he said at last. He indicated the visitors' chair, and subsided into his own with an air of being glad of an anchorage in a world suddenly at sea.
"Now, let us clarify the situation," he said. "The only Patrick Ashby died at the age of thirteen, some-let me see-eight years ago, it must be."
"What makes you think he died?"
"He committed suicide, and left a farewell note."
"Did the note mention suicide?"
"I am afraid I cannot recall the wording."