These gentlemen,"
and he included them in a wide gesture, "are my colleagues of the
press. We've been anxiously awaiting you here in order that we may
propound to you certain questions."
"All right; fire away," I said.
"First, we'd like to have your theory of the crime. Your work this
afternoon convinced us that you know how to put two and two together,
which is more than can be said for the ordinary mortal. The public
will want to know your theory--the great public."
"Oh, but I haven't any theory," I protested. "Besides, I don't think
the great public is especially interested in me. You see, gentlemen,
I'm quite out of the case. When we cleared Miss Holladay, our
connection with it ended."
"But is Miss Holladay cleared?" he persisted. "Is it not quite
conceivable that in those two hours she was absent from her carriage,
she may have changed her gown, gone to her father's office, and then
changed back again? In that case, would she not naturally have chosen
a green gown, since she never wore green?"
"Oh, nonsense!" I cried. "That's puerile. Either she would disguise
herself effectually or not at all. I suppose if you were going to
commit a capital crime, you would merely put on a high hat, because
you never wear one! I'll tell you this much: I'm morally certain that
Miss Holladay is quite innocent.
Pages:
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69