Rex Stout by The Hand in the Glove Page B

them?”
    Sherwood glanced at Brissenden and saw by the colonel’s fierce scowl that he was hopelessly sunk; and, remembering the $50,000 promissory note among his papers, signed by Cleo Audrey Storrs, Sherwood himself would not have risked a nickel on the question, whether he was confronted by cunning guilt, or determined remorse, or complicated idiocy. He considered, and at length turned to her with an air of frank sympathy:
    “I’ll tell you, Mrs. Storrs. I can only say that it seems to us likely that the man who murdered your husband is at present in this room.” He disregarded a gasp from SylviaRaffray and a muttering from the group, and went on, “We have narrowed it down to about fifteen people, any one of whom might conceivably have got to that spot yesterday without being observed. We can find no support for suspicion against any of the servants here, including the outdoor men, and no trace of a motive. One of the workmen from Foltz’s place could have come by the path through the woods, but there is no reason to suspect them and they give mutual alibis—except for the man in charge, Wolfram de Roode. He seems—but we’re looking into that. Of the eight left, four are women, including yourself. They are not absolutely excluded, but it seems improbable that a woman could have pulled that wire. None of the four men can prove lack of opportunity.”
    The attorney shuffled among his papers and drew out one. “Your daughter has told us that at about a quarter past three yesterday afternoon Mr. Storrs left the house by way of the side terrace. Bissell, your assistant gardener, says that at about that time he saw him going down the path near the base of the slope, toward the fish pool. We have found no one who will admit seeing him between that hour and the time Miss Bonner found him dead, a little before seven o’clock. But as I said, neither do we find anyone who could not have had an opportunity. Ranth did leave this house around four o’clock, and returned some twenty minutes later—and, according to his story, went to see you in your room. Your daughter Janet was out of the house for over two hours previous to the arrival of guests. Leonard Chisholm came here alone from Foltz’s place, by the path through the woods, about four-thirty, perhaps a little earlier. He says he looked for Storrs but didn’t find him. Sylvia Raffray also walked here alone, some fifteen or twenty minutes later, and about an hour afterwards was followed by Foltz. Zimmerman had left the group at Foltz’s place before four o’clock, for a walk in the woods, and was seen by no one until half-past five, when he suddenly appeared at the stables, talked a little with one of the men, and then went to the tennis court. Those are the stories we get. I’ve made up a complete timetable of yesterday afternoon from 3:15 to 6:45, and it proves nothing and eliminates nobody.”
    Sherwood shoved the paper aside, looked slowly around the room, at each face, and back at Mrs. Storrs. “We are of course being deliberately obstructed. We expect that. Those obstructions must be removed. We are told things we do not believe, and we are refused information we have a right to ask for. We are not satisfied with Miss Bonner’s explanation of her peculiar conduct, in going to the tennis court after finding the body, and spending ten minutes with you there, before returning to the house and telling Belden to notify the police. We are not satisfied with Chisholm’s statement of his failure to find Mr. Storrs when he looked for him, nor with his statement of his purpose in looking for him. We are not satisfied with Wolfram de Roode’s contradictory assertions regarding the sequence of events at Foltz’s place yesterday afternoon. We are not satisfied with Foltz’s explanation of how his woolen jacket came to be on the back of a chair in the reception hall, when the butler found it there and then found Foltz in the dining-room pouring himself a