"Old walls have been known to do this," was the grave reply.
"Whether they had anything to say in this case is at present quite
immaterial. That you were where I charge you with being is evident
from your own manner. May I then ask if you have anything to say
about this visit. When a person has died under such peculiar
circumstances as Mrs. Jeffrey, everything bearing upon the case is
of interest to the coroner."

I was sorry he added that last sentence; sorry that he felt obliged
to qualify his action by anything savoring of apology; for the time
spent in its utterance afforded his agitated hearer an opportunity
not only of collecting himself but of preparing an answer for which
he would not have been ready an instant before.

"Mrs. Jeffrey's death was a strange one," her husband admitted with
tardy self-control. "I find myself as much at a loss to understand
it as you do, and am therefore quite ready to answer the question
you have so openly broached. Not that my answer has any bearing upon
the point you wish to make, but because it is your due and my
pleasure. I did visit the Moore house, as I certainly had every
right to do. The property was my wife's, and it was for my interest
to learn, if I could, the secret of its many crimes."

"Ah!"

Mr. Jeffrey looked quickly up. "You think that an odd thing for me
to do?"

"At night. Yes."