"Seventh: The secret shelf in the foyer closet was not mentioned.
"Peter's verdict, after he got through with us, was that only Sprague
could have done it--using the gun and silencer which Nita herself had
stolen from Hugo. I couldn't tell him that you are convinced that
Lydia's alibi for him is a genuine one, for apparently Lydia hasn't told
either Flora or Tracey that she was able to furnish Sprague an alibi.
"And that's all, except that Peter asked me to convey to you his
apologies for his rudeness Monday afternoon.... Penelope Crain."
With a deep sigh Dundee laid Penny's report aside.
"And that does seem to be all, 'my dear Watson'," he told the parrot.
"Exactly half a dozen possible suspects, and not an atom of actual
evidence against one of them--except that Judge Marshall owned the gun.
Six--count 'em: Judge Marshall, John Drake, Flora Miles, Clive Hammond,
Polly Beale, Janet Raymond.... Every single one of them a possible
victim of blackmail, since the girls all attended the Forsyte School,
where Nita directed the Easter play for two years, and since the men
make several trips a year to New York.... Six people, all of whom
probably knew of the existence of the secret shelf.... Six people who
knew Nita was in her bedroom, either from having seen her go or from
hearing her powder box tinkling its damnable tune!.
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