Chapter 26 Not from Captain Hastings’ Personal Narrative¹

Inspector² Crome was listening to the excited utterances³ of Mr Leadbetter.
‘I assure you, inspector, my heart misses a beat when I think of it. He must actually have been sitting beside me all through the programme!’
Inspector Crome, completely indifferent to the behaviour of Mr Leadbetter’s heart, said:
‘Just let me have it quite clear? This man went out towards the close of the big picture—’
‘Not a Sparrow—Katherine Royal,’ murmured Mr Leadbetter automatically.
‘He passed you and in doing so stumbled—’
‘He pretendedto stumble, I see it now. Then he leaned over the seat in front to pick up his hat. He must have stabbed the poor fellow then.’
‘You didn’t hear anything? A cry? Or a groan⁴?’
Mr Leadbetter had heard nothing but the loud, hoarse⁵ accents of Katherine Royal, but in the vividness of his imagination he invented a groan.
Inspector Crome took the groan at its face value and bade him proceed.
‘And then he went out—’
‘Can you describe him?’
‘He was a very big man. Six foot at least. A giant.’
‘Fair or dark?’
‘I—well—I’m not exactly sure. I think he was bald. A sinister-looking fellow.’
‘He didn’t limp, did he?’ asked Inspector Crome.
‘Yes—yes, now you come to speak of it I think he did limp. Very dark, he might have been some kind of half-caste.’
‘Was he in his seat the last time the lights came up?’
‘No. He came in after the big picture began.’
Inspector Crome nodded, handed Mr Leadbetter a statement to sign and got rid of him.
‘That’s about as bad a witness as you’ll find,’ he remarked pessimistically. ‘He’d say anything with a little leading. It’s perfectly⁶ clear that he hasn’t the faintest idea what our man looks like. Let’s have the commissionaire back.’

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