”Theysaynot。Noonenoticedany。Nottillthedoctorcame-herdoctorwhowashappilyinhisofficeinthisverybuilding。Hesawthedrops，andutteredthefirstsuggestionofmurder。””Howlongafterwasthis?Isthereanyonewhohasventuredtomakeanestimateofthenumberofminuteswhichelapsedfromthetimeshefell，tothemomentwhenthedoctorfirstraisedthecryofmurder?””Yes。Mr。Slater，theassistantmanager，whowasinthelobbyatthetime，saysthattenminutesatleastmusthaveelapsed。””Tenminutesandnoblood！Theweaponmuststillhavebeenthere。Someweaponwithashortandinconspicuoushandle。Ithinktheysaidtherewereflowersoverandaroundtheplacewhereitstruck?””Yes，greatbigscarletones。Nobodynoticed-nobodylooked。A
paniclikethatseemstoparalysepeople。””Tenminutes！Imustseeeveryonewhoapproachedherduringthosetenminutes。Everyone，Sweetwater，andImustmyselftalkwithMissClarke。””Youwilllikeher。Youwillbelieveeverywordshesays。””Nodoubt。AllthemorereasonwhyImustseeher。Sweetwater，someonedrewthatweaponout。Effectsstill，havetheircauses，notwithstandingthenewcult。Thequestioniswho?Wemustleavenostoneunturnedtofindthatout。””Thestoneshaveallbeenturnedoveronce。””Byyou?”Notaltogetherbyme。””Thentheywillbearbeingturnedoveragain。Iwanttobewitnessoftheoperation。””WherewillyouseeMissClarke?”Wherevershepleases-onlyIcan’twalkfar。””IthinkIknowtheplace。Youshallhavetheuseofthiselevator。
Ithasnotbeenrunningsincelastnightoritwouldbefullofcuriouspeopleallthetime，hustlingtogetaglimpseofthisplace。
Butthey’llputamanonforyou。””Verygood；manageitasyouwill。I’llwaitheretillyou’reready。
Explainyourselftothelady。TellherI’manoldandrheumaticinvalidwhohasbeenusedtoaskinghisownquestions。I’llnottroublehermuch。Butthereisonepointshemustmakecleartome。”