“By questioning, both straightforward and also more adroit. I have talked to the servants, and I have examined their rooms and possessions, and I have no hesitancy in pronouncing them all innocent.” “Perhaps they know something about it, though.” “Not the ones who are there now. A few, I believe, have been dismissed. They may know something. I cannot get at them, of course. But those who are there, and they are the principal ones, are innocent, and are eager to find the criminal.” “They do not, then, suspect Alma Remsen? Surely they would not be anxious to discover her guilty.” “No, they will hear no word against her. Griscom, especially, flies into a rage at a hint of her implication in the matter.” “And the two secretaries?” “Are as innocent as I am. I can scarcely expect you to take my word about myself, but I want to witness for Everett and Dean. They had no reason to kill Tracy, for I don’t agree that their expected legacies were sufficient motive. I had a motive, I suppose, as I sorely needed the money he left me, but I didn’t kill him to get it.” Ames didn’t smile, he made his statement in a calm, honest way that carried absolute conviction. And there was no evidence against Ames. Had he wanted to kill Tracy, he surely would not have gone to the trouble to fix up all those foolish decorations, nor would he have been apt to think of making that telltale scratch across his own door. “I think nobody suspects you, Mr. Ames,” Keeley said, and Ames returned: “No, nobody does. They’re all on the trail of Alma Remsen. By all, I mean of course, the police; there’s nobody else sleuthing, that I know of, except yourself.” “There is plenty of evidence that seems to point to Miss Remsen,” Kee said, slowly, “the question is, does it really indicate her? Did you ever hear, Mr. Ames, that she was in any way affected, either physically or mentally, by any disorder that would make her—er—irresponsible in her behaviour?” Ames moved uncomfortably in his chair. “I’d rather not answer that question,” he said, “but I suppose my disinclination to reply would be construed as affirmative. So, while I decline to discuss it, I will admit that I have heard rumours to that effect.” “Then if it can be proved that she is mentally affected, surely no punishment can come to her, even in case of conviction.” “Perhaps not. But if she is mentally afflicted, it seems all the more horrible to add to her sufferings the horrors of a trial.” My heart warmed toward Harper Ames. At least, he had the instincts of a human being, and not those of a cold-blooded sleuth. “You feel, as I do, that the bizarre effects of that deathbed implies, or at least suggests, the work of a disordered mind?” “Either that, or an exceedingly clever mind trying to give the effect of a more or less demented person.” “Have you, in your talks with the servants or secretaries, learned any rational explanation for those strange conditions?” “None at all.”