and do exactly as you
did upon your arrival at approximately 5:33. I am sure you would not
willingly hamper me--or _my superior_--in this investigation."

Drake wheeled, ungraciously, and returned to the doorway, while Dundee
again consulted his watch, mentally subtracting the minutes which had
been wasted upon this interruption, from the time he had marked upon his
memory as the moment at which Drake had interfered. But an undercurrent
of skepticism nagged at his mind. Why had Drake chosen to _walk_? And
why had it taken him from 5:10 to approximately 5:33 to walk a mile or
less? The average walker, and especially one accustomed to playing golf,
could easily have covered a mile in fifteen minutes, instead of the
twenty-three minutes Drake had admitted to.... If it _was_ a
mile!... Was it possible that the banker loved wildflowers?

With head up aggressively, Drake was undoubtedly making an effort to
throw himself into the role--or perhaps into a role chosen on the spot!

"Where's everybody?" he called from the doorway. "Am I early?"

"Don't interrupt, please, dear," Carolyn Drake answered, her voice
trembling now, where before it must have been sharp and querulous.

Silently Drake took his place behind his wife's chair, laying a hand
affectionately upon her shoulder. Dundee, watching closely, saw Penny's
eyes widen with something like shocked surprise. So Drake _was_ trying
to deceive him, counting on the oneness of this group, his closest
friends!

Karen, obviously flustered, too, reached to the dummy for the Ace of
Diamonds, to which Penny played the three, Karen herself discarding the
ten of Clubs, and Mrs. Drake the five of Diamonds.

"You asked no questions, Mr. Drake?" Dundee interpolated.

The banker flushed again. "I--yes, I believe I did. Carolyn--Mrs.
Drake--explained that Karen was playing for a little slam in Spades, and
that she had doubled--'on principle'," he added acidly--a voice which
Mrs. Drake must be very well accustomed to, Dundee surmised.

"And when I told you that Nita had redoubled and it looked as if she was
going to make it," Carolyn Drake whimpered and shifted her short, stout
body in the little bridge chair, "you said--why not tell the truth?--you
said it was just like me and I might as well take to tatting at bridge
parties."

"That was said jokingly, my dear," Drake retorted, with a coldness that
tried to be affectionate warmth.

"Play bridge!" Dundee commanded, sure that the