no chance of it. I've seen the caterer's people, and they were in
charge of the basement rooms and the dining-room all the evening.
Unless it were one of the guests at the party, I think no intruder
could have gotten in."

"Well," I returned, uneasily, for I wished he would go, "it isn't up
to us to invent theories or to defend them. I will answer your
necessary questions, but pardon me, if I remind you that I am a busy
man and I haven't yet had my breakfast."

Bemis took the hint, and after a string of definite and pertinent
questions, he left.

Winnie tried to detain him, but my curt courtesy made it difficult for
him to linger.

"Oh, Chessy," cried my sister, as soon as Bemis had gone, "it's awful,
I know, but _isn't_ it exciting?"

"Hush, Winnie," reproved Aunt Lucy. "A girl of your age should know
nothing of these things, and I want you to put it out of your mind.
You can be of no help, and I do not want your nerves disturbed by the
harrowing details."

"That's all right, Aunt Lucy," I put in, "but this is going to be a
celebrated case, and Winnie can't be kept in ignorance of its
developments. Now be a good sort, Auntie--accept the inevitable. Try
to realize that I must do what seems to me my duty, and if that brings
us more or less into the limelight of publicity, it is a pity, but it
can't be helped."