Lacking any more definite line at the moment, Labar felt impelled to the theory that there had been collusion between the thieves and someone in the house. That at least furnished a working hypothesis which might be abandoned according to circumstances. It was for this reason that he doggedly set himself to interview all and sundry instead of leaving his assistants to weed them out.
With the shrewd suavity of an Old Bailey lawyer he examined and cross-examined, an obese shorthand writer at his elbow, until he had a complete surface knowledge, at any rate, of the movements of everyone in the house for the last twenty-four hours, and much information of their antecedents and habits. Superficially, he had to admit, as he stretched himself with a yawn some hours later, there was no one he could suspect. Perhaps, in the future, when the statements had been checked up, some hint might develop. But he did not bank on that. Frequently this kind of tedious work resulted in nothing, although it was always possible that some vitally important fact might arise.