Loyalties | Page 6

in the room, what would he try
first?--the clothes, the dressin'-table, the suit case, the chest of drawers,
and last the bed.
He moves accordingly, examining the glass on the dressing-table, the
surface of the suit cases, and the handles of the drawers, with a
spy-glass, for finger-marks.
CANYNGE. [Sotto voce to WINSOR] The order would have been just
the other way.
The INSPECTOR goes on hands and knees and examines the carpet
between the window and the bed.
DE LEVIS. Can I come in again?
INSPECTOR. [Standing up] Did you open the window, sir, or was it
open when you first came in?
DE LEVIS. I opened it.
INSPECTOR. Drawin' the curtains back first?
DE LEVIS. Yes.
INSPECTOR. [Sharply] Are you sure there was nobody in the room
already?

DE LEVIS. [Taken aback] I don't know. I never thought. I didn't look
under the bed, if you mean that.
INSPECTOR. [Jotting] Did not look under bed. Did you look under it
after the theft?
DE LEVIS. No. I didn't.
INSPECTOR. Ah! Now, what did you do after you came back from
your bath? Just give us that precisely.
DE LEVIS. Locked the door and left the key in. Put back my sponge,
and took off my dressing-gown and put it there. [He points to the
footrails of the bed] Then I drew the curtains, again.
INSPECTOR. Shutting the window?
DE LEVIS. No. I got into bed, felt for my watch to see the time. My
hand struck the pocket-book, and somehow it felt thinner. I took it out,
looked into it, and found the notes gone, and these shaving papers
instead.
INSPECTOR. Let me have a look at those, sir. [He applies the spy-
glasses] And then?
DE LEVIS. I think I just sat on the bed.
INSPECTOR. Thinkin' and cursin' a bit, I suppose. Ye-es?
DE LEVIS. Then I put on my dressing-gown and went straight to Mr
WINSOR.
INSPECTOR. Not lockin' the door?
DE LEVIS. No.
INSPECTOR. Exactly. [With a certain finality] Now, sir, what time did
you come up?
DE LEVIS. About eleven.
INSPECTOR. Precise, if you can give it me.
DE LEVIS. Well, I know it was eleven-fifteen when I put my watch
under my pillow, before I went to the bath, and I suppose I'd been about
a quarter of an hour undressing. I should say after eleven, if anything.
INSPECTOR. Just undressin'? Didn't look over your bettin' book?
DE LEVIS. No.
INSPECTOR. No prayers or anything?
DE LEVIS. No.
INSPECTOR. Pretty slippy with your undressin' as a rule?
DE LEVIS. Yes. Say five past eleven.
INSPECTOR. Mr WINSOR, what time did the gentleman come to

you?
WINSOR. Half-past eleven.
INSPECTOR. How do you fix that, sir?
WINSOR. I'd just looked at the time, and told my wife to send her maid
off.
INSPECTOR. Then we've got it fixed between 11.15 and 11.30. [Jots]
Now, sir, before we go further I'd like to see your butler and the
footman that valets this gentleman.
WINSOR. [With distaste] Very well, Inspector; only--my butler has
been with us from a boy.
INSPECTOR. Quite so. This is just clearing the ground, sir.
WINSOR. General, d'you mind touching that bell?
CANYNGE rings a bell by the bed.
INSPECTOR. Well, gentlemen, there are four possibilities. Either the
thief was here all the time, waiting under the bed, and slipped out after
this gentleman had gone to Mr WINSOR. Or he came in with a key that
fits the lock; and I'll want to see all the keys in the house. Or he came in
with a skeleton key and out by the window, probably droppin' from the
balcony. Or he came in by the window with a rope or ladder and out the
same way. [Pointing] There's a footmark here from a big boot which
has been out of doors since it rained.
CANYNGE. Inspector--you er--walked up to the window when you
first came into the room.
INSPECTOR. [Stiffly] I had not overlooked that, General.
CANYNGE. Of course.
A knock on the door relieves a certain tension,
WINSOR. Come in.
The footman ROBERT, a fresh-faced young man, enters, followed by
TREISURE.
INSPECTOR. You valet Mr--Mr De Levis, I think?
ROBERT. Yes, sir.
INSPECTOR. At what time did you take his clothes and boots?
ROBERT. Ten o'clock, sir.
INSPECTOR. [With a pounce] Did you happen to look under his bed?
ROBERT. No, sir.
INSPECTOR. Did you come up again, to bring the clothes back?
ROBERT. No, sir; they're still downstairs.

INSPECTOR. Did you come up again for anything?
ROBERT. No, Sir.
INSPECTOR. What time did you go to bed?
ROBERT. Just after eleven, Sir.
INSPECTOR. [Scrutinising him] Now, be careful. Did you go to bed at
all?
ROBERT. No, Sir.
INSPECTOR. Then why did you say you did? There's been a theft here,
and