“Yes, sir. At about a quarter to eleven Mr. George Brooklyn called and asked for Mr. Prinsep. I told him I thought Mr. Prinsep was in, and he said he would find his own way up.” “And do you know when Mr. George Brooklyn came out?” “Yes, I happened to catch sight of him crossing the hall to the front door about three-quarters of an hour later—somewhere about half-past eleven. We were in the dining-room clearing up, and several of us saw him go out.” “You say ‘clearing up.’ Had there been some entertainment in the house last night?” “Yes, sir. It was Sir Vernon Brooklyn’s family party. His seventieth birthday, sir. Besides those in the house there were Mr. and Mrs. George, Mr. Carter Woodman, sir—the solicitor, who is also Sir Vernon’s cousin—and his wife, and Mr. Lucas—and, yes, Mr. Ellery.” “When did they leave?” “They all left a minute or two after ten o’clock. Mr. and Mrs. George and the Woodmans are staying at the Cunningham, sir, and they walked. Mr. Lucas—the playwriter, sir—he went off in his car to Hampstead, and Mr. Ellery, he walked off in a great hurry.” “So far as you know, no one besides Mr. George Brooklyn saw Mr. Prinsep after 10.15.” “No. Of course, Miss Joan or Miss Woodman or Sir Vernon may have seen him without my knowing.” “One more question. Do you recognise this walking-stick?” The inspector had found this lying on the floor of the room. It might be Prinsep’s; but it was best to make sure. “No, sir. I’ve never seen it to my knowledge. But it may have been Mr. Prinsep’s, for all that. He had quite a number.” “You’ve no idea, then, whose it was?” “No, sir. Mr. Prinsep used to collect walking-sticks. He was always bringing new ones home.” “Now, I want to ask you another question. You see this knife—the one that was sticking out of the body. Have you ever seen it before?” Winter’s manner showed some hesitation. At length he said, “No, I can’t say I have. I mean, it wasn’t here to my knowledge yesterday.” “You seem to hesitate in answering. It’s a curious sort of knife. Surely you would remember if you had seen it. Or have you seen one like it?” “Must I answer that question, sir? You see, I’m not at all sure it was the same.” “Of course you must answer. It is your business to give the police all the help you can in discovering the murderer.” “Well, sir, all I meant was that I’d often seen Mr. George Brooklyn using that sort of knife when he was doing his work—he’s an architect—down at Fittleworth. He used to bring his work down when he came to stay with Sir Vernon, and I know he had a knife like that.” “I see. But you can’t say whether this is his.” “No. It might be; but all I know is it’s the same pattern.” “And that’s all you can tell me, is it?” Winter said nothing, and the inspector added, “Very well, that will do. Now I want to ask Morgan a few questions.”