“Tut! it’s impossible.”
“You don’t know. You weren’t here that night.”
“Trust Salt. He has ascertained beyond a shade of doubt that Maryvale and the rest of the party were in the House the whole evening. The only possibility is that one of the servants might have gone out looking that way, and you know how likely that is.”
I gave a shrug to dismiss the whole question as insoluble. “I thank my stars I wasn’t born a detective.”
“Curious how dark the House is,” said Aire. “So close to dinner, too.”
The building had been in sight for a time, but only as a black beast crouching with closed eyes on the lawn. Now we were some hundred yards or so distant, but had still to go through the gate-house archway if we followed the westward trend of the drive.
I said, “I suppose our friends haven’t appeared. I’d make my outing as long as possible, too, having to return at last to this devil’s playground.”
We passed underneath the arch, crossed the lawn.
“Even the kitchens looked dark from down below. Can’t tell about them from this side, though. I certainly expected the motorists to be back by this time; didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did.”