The girl entered the conservatory cautiously, looking around.
When she spotted the professor sitting near the window, staring out into the garden, she approached him with a sense of finality. “I have it now,” she said. “I’ve worked it out. I know, without doubt, that it was you who murdered that nice old Doctor Black.”
“What? Don’t be ridiculous!”
“There’s no doubt about it. You murdered him in the kitchen with the lead pipe,” she said.
A voice came from behind her. “He couldn’t have.”
She swung around to face the cook.
“At the time of the murder the professor was with me in the kitchen,” she said indignantly. “If you want to go around making accusations like that, you should talk to the actress.”
The girl thought for a moment. “Ah! Yes. I’ve got it now,” she said, and hurried out.
She found the actress in the study reading a magazine. She cried out, “I’ve got it now! You did it, didn’t you?”
The actress looked up. “Did what?”
“You strangled the doctor with the rope in the hall. Don’t deny it.”
“I couldn’t have,” came the reply. “At the time I was with the reverend in the dining room.”
“Prove it!” the girl shouted.
Obviously, very annoyed the actress got up and they went looking for the reverend and found him in the library, engrossed in a book.
“This silly girl has accused me of murder, would you believe?” she said with a sneer.
He shook his head. “I don’t think so, my child. At the time we were together, I can assure you of that.” He thought for a moment. “However, now that I come to think about it, I did hear the colonel call out, followed by a loud bang that came from the billiard room.”
The girl stamped her foot in frustration. “All right,” she said, “that must be it. Finally. Where is the colonel now?”
“How would we know,” the actress scoffed. She turned to the reverend. “Perhaps we should go with her and put an end to all this silly nonsense.” The reverend sighed, put his book down and followed them.
Outside, in the corridor, they found the cook and the professor waiting for them. With all the commotion going on, they had decided to join the others. At this point, they all went looking for either the colonel or the governess. They found them both in the lounge. The elderly governess was sitting in an armchair with her leg raised. The colonel was placing a cushion between a low table and her foot.
The reverend went to the governess and took her hand asking, “Are you alright, my dear?” She looked up, saying, “Yes. I’ll be fine. I was very clumsy. I knocked over that little table and it caught my toes when it went down. It would have been much worse if I hadn’t been wearing sturdy shoes.” She looked around and seemed to notice the others for the first time. “The colonel has been very kind; he’s been looking after me. Is anything wrong?”
The reverend straightened. “No. Not really. This young lady seems to be bent on accusing one of us of murdering the doctor.”
The colonel eyed her with disbelief. “How dare you. Why, I know all of these people and can assure you none of them is capable of such a wicked thing. Who the devil are you anyway?
With an indignant tone, she replied, “I’m Miss Brown.”
“Well, there you are then. You’re not even in this game!”
With that they all pushed her out into the street.