“Not at present, Mr. Hunt. Miss Dupuy, did you hear Mr. Carleton come in?”

Cicely Dupuy turned an angry face toward Mr. Hunt and fairly glared at the mild-mannered man. She waited a moment before answering the coroner’s question, and then as if with a sudden resolve she spoke a sharp, quick “Yes.”

“And that was at quarter after eleven?”

“It was later,” declared Cicely. “For Mr. Carleton told you himself that he went directly into the library as soon as he came into the house, and as I heard his cry at half-past eleven he must have entered only a few moments before.”

Schuyler Carleton stared at Cicely, and she returned his gaze.