“But Mrs. Haymes didn’t take kindly to that idea?”

“She’s as obstinate as a mule, that girl. Just the time of year when I want the tennis court mowed and marked nearly every day. Old Ashe gets the lines crooked. But my convenience is never considered!”

“I presume Mrs. Haymes takes a smaller salary than is usual?”

“Naturally. What else could she expect?”

“Nothing, I’m sure,” said Craddock. “Good morning, Mrs. Lucas.”

III

“It was dreadful,” said Mrs. Swettenham happily. “Quite—quite—dreadful, and what I say is that they ought to be far more careful what advertisements they accept at the Gazette office. At the time, when I read it, I thought it was very odd. I said so, didn’t I, Edmund?”

“Do you remember just what you were doing when the lights went out, Mrs. Swettenham?” asked the Inspector.

“How that reminds me of my old Nannie! Where was Moses when the light went out? The answer, of course, was ‘In the Dark.’ Just like us yesterday evening. All standing about and wondering what was going to happen. And then, you know, the thrill when it suddenly went pitch black. And the door opening—just a dim figure standing there with a revolver and that blinding light and a menacing voice saying ‘Your money or your life!’ Oh, I’ve never enjoyed anything so much. And then a minute later, of course, it was all dreadful. Real bullets, just whistling past our ears! It must have been just like the Commandos in the war.”

“Whereabouts were you standing or sitting at the time, Mrs. Swettenham?”

“Now let me see, where was I? Who was I talking to, Edmund?”

“I really haven’t the least idea, Mother.”

“Was it Miss Hinchcliffe I was asking about giving the hens cod liver oil in the cold weather? Or was it Mrs. Harmon—no, she’d only just arrived. I think I was just saying to Colonel Easterbrook that I thought it was really very dangerous to have an atom research station in England. It ought to be on some lonely island in case the radio activity gets loose.”

“You don’t remember if you were sitting or standing?”

“Does it really matter, Inspector? I was somewhere over by the window or near the mantelpiece, because I know I was quite near the clock when it struck. Such a thrilling moment! Waiting to see if anything might be going to happen.”

“You describe the light from the torch as blinding. Was it turned full on to you?”

“It was right in my eyes. I couldn’t see a thing.”

“Did the man hold it still, or did he move it about, from person to person?”

“Oh, I don’t really know. Which did he do, Edmund?”

“It moved rather slowly over us all, so as to see what we were all doing, I suppose, in case we should try and rush him.”

“And where exactly in the room were you, Mr. Swettenham?”

“I’d been talking to Julia Simmons. We were both standing up in the middle of the room—the long room.”