“Yes.”
“But didn’t he also ask you why you hadn’t said something about the letter at the time of Harry Myles’s death?”
“I pointed out that we were in Europe at that time and didn’t hear the news until many months later, when we got back. By then the letter had escaped my mind.”
“And did your action influence your husband’s feeling toward Marge Myles?”
“It was beginning to. Things like that work slowly; they keep breeding in the mind until they become effective.”
She had missed, he decided, her century. When the Medicis were in flower she, too, would have bloomed her best.
“ Mrs. Endicott, what was your real reason for sending for the police last night?”
“I can explain that better by accounting for my movements between the time that Herbert knocked on the door to say goodbye and you arrived. Will that satisfy you?”
“I hope so, Mrs. Endicott.”
“I shan’t lie to you, Lieutenant. I shall tell you the exact truth. Roberts was in the room with me, fixing some disorder in my dress. I left the room shortly after and started down the corridor for the sitting room. Mrs. Siddons, my housekeeper—I don’t know whether you’ve met her or not?”
“Yes, Mrs. Endicott.”