‘I don’t know,’ said Colonel Claire, opening his eyes very wide. ‘Not on purpose, of course. I caught sight of you some way ahead and I thought to myself, “Hullo, there goes James,” and there, at that moment, went I. It gave me quite a fright because after all one is close to the edge up there. However, I picked myself up and carried on.’

‘Did you fall into the hole, dear?’ asked Mrs Claire, solicitously.

‘What hole, Agnes?’

‘James seems to think there was a hole,’ she muttered.

‘Did you look to see why you’d fallen? Did you examine the path with your torch?’

‘How could I, James, when the torch had gone out? I fell on it and it wouldn’t go on again. But I could see the flags dimly so I was all right.’

‘I’m glad you weren’t hurt, dear,’ said his wife.

‘And so there, in effect,’ said the Colonel quite cosily, ‘we are.’

‘Precisely nowhere,’ said Dr Ackrington. ‘I take it you can’t produce a witness to your movements, Edward?’

‘Not unless Questing saw me. And even if he’s alive, as we all seem to have agreed, he’s vanished into thin air, so that’s no good, is it?’

Dr Ackrington pointed at his nephew. ‘You,’ he said.

‘Bert and Colly and I were together,’ said Simon. ‘A chap from Harpoon gave us a lift back. Ernie Priest, it was. Some of the boys over there wanted us to stay for a drink but I don’t think it’s so hot getting dragged in on those parties. It was Eru Saul’s gang and I draw the line there. Ernie had a bottle of beer in the car. We had one with him and he dropped us up at the front gate. That’s right, isn’t it, Bert?’

‘I’ll say,’ said Smith moodily.

‘Did any of you leave the hall during the performance?’ asked Falls.

‘You did, didn’t you, Bert?’

‘What if I did!’ cried Smith, instantly on the defensive. ‘Sure, I did. I went out with two of the boys for a quick one. There’s some people when they’ve got a drink on the place has the decency to offer you one.’ He looked accusingly at Gaunt. ‘Some people, I said,’ he added. ‘Not everyone.’

‘Who were the two youths?’ Dr Ackrington demanded.

‘Eru Saul and Maui Matai.’

‘Did you separate at all, Mr Smith?’ asked Falls.

‘That’s right, pick on me. We did not. We stuck together and we got back in time to hear his nibs screeching his socks off.’

‘Are you talking about me?’ asked Gaunt bristling.

‘That’s right.’

‘I should be glad to know at what point in my performance I could be said, even by a drunken Philistine, to screech.’