They were back in the library when Rawson reappeared with Shine. Shine, unable to sleep, had been sitting by his window when Rawson, scouting, had stopped to inquire if he had seen any one. Shine had not, but had volunteered to join in a hunt and the two had been about the house and the immediate vicinity. Nothing had been discovered and Patrick had seen no sign of life or heard no sound. Now they had come back for the electric torch and were going to extend their search. A person concealed on the seaward side of the island might be moving at this hour when the causeway was free. Bassett said he would go with them and the three men left the room by one of the long windows.

Williams opened the library door and turned off the lights. The noise of the departing trio [Pg 150]would suggest to any one on the watch that the house was free of police supervision and there might be developments. He took the desk chair as easier to rise from than the deep-seated leather ones and settled himself to a resumé of what they had so far gathered.

[Pg 150]

He was convinced of Mrs. Stokes’ guilt and ran over the reasons. A hysterical woman, frantic with jealousy—that alone was enough. But that woman had been the only member of the party who at the time of the shooting had been some distance from the house. She had taken the pistol with the intention of using it if an occasion offered. Her walk had been undertaken with the hope that she might find that occasion in the hour before supper when they were all in their rooms. The occasion had offered. Miss Saunders, unable to resist the beauty of the evening, had gone to the Point alone. He set no store by Rawson’s opinion that the woman’s state of mind was too genuinely distracted. He considered it as part of a premeditated plan carried through with nerve and skill. [Pg 151]She would have known that the report of the pistol would have been heard at the house. This, when Miss Saunders did not return, would have suggested foul play. And she, Mrs. Stokes, was the only person out on the island. A later entrance, with an assumption of ignorance, would have turned suspicion on her like a pointing finger. She was too intelligent for that—had called her abilities as an actress to her aid and put them all off with her screaming excitement.

[Pg 151]

Another point that he wanted to look into was the length of time she had been at the shore after the report—a great deal too long for what she said she had done. Too paralyzed to think or move, her explanation was stunned. Williams was divided in his opinion as to that—either 

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