“And on Monday night,” went on Miss Brand slowly, and speaking with great deliberation, “I saw Captain Dane trying to kiss that girl behind a screen in the lounge, with the butler watching them through the banisters at the top of the stairs.” She spoke almost in a whisper. “And he had such an awful look on his face—the look of a man who would murder if he could.”
“And you suggest?” said Larose.
“That he killed him,” replied Miss Brand. She threw out her hands. “Why, nothing would have been easier. Captain Dane had had plenty of drink that night, he dropped off to sleep before the fire and he was struck when asleep!”
“What was the butler like, the next day—after the murder had been discovered?” asked the detective thoughtfully.
“Frightened, very frightened,” replied Miss Brand quickly,
