"Besides, Tracey wasn't gone from the porch long enough to go outside,
signal to Sprague in the trophy room, shoot him when Sprague raised the
screen, and then hide the gun. I told you Tracey was gone only about a
minute when he went to see if Sprague's hat and stick were gone from the
closet."
"Did Tracey and Flora both step outside to see their guests into their
cars?" Dundee asked suddenly.
"Tracey did," Penny answered. "Flora told us all good night in the
living room, then ran upstairs to see if Betty was still asleep.... But
remember we didn't leave until midnight, and Dr. Price says Sprague was
killed between nine and eleven last night."
"Dr. Price would be the first to grant a leeway of an hour, one way or
another," Dundee told her. "Of course, if Tracey did kill him, he let
Flora believe that he had given Sprague the blackmail money he was
demanding. For it is inconceivable that a woman of Flora Miles'
hysterical temperament could have slept--even with two sleeping
tablets--knowing that a corpse was in the house."
"Oh, I'm sick of your silly theorizing!" Penny told him with vehement
scorn. "Listen here, Bonnie Dundee! You probably laugh at 'woman's
intuition', but take it from me--_you're on the wrong track_!"
"Oh, I'm not so wedded to that particular theory!" Dundee laughed.
Pages:
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316