" He paused,
and then asked, "Is that right, do you think?"
"Absolutely," said Bill with conviction.
"Well, I guessed it was. So then I began to see an x which would
fit just this part of the problem--the clothes part. I saw Mark
changing his clothes; I saw him instinctively dropping the collar
in the linen-basket, just as he had always dropped every collar
he had ever taken off, but leaving the rest of the clothes on a
chair in the ordinary way; and I saw Cayley collecting all the
clothes afterwards--all the visible clothes--and not realizing
that the collar wasn't there."
"Go on," said Bill eagerly.
"Well, I felt pretty sure about that, and I wanted an explanation
of it. Why had Mark changed down there instead of in his
bedroom? The only answer was that the fact of his changing had
to be kept secret. When did he change? The only possible time
was between lunch (when he would be seen by the servants) and the
moment of Robert's arrival. And when did Cayley collect the
clothes in a bundle? Again, the only answer was 'Before Robert's
arrival.
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