9. EIGHTEEN IMPORTANT MINUTES
No one spoke. Outside what Jimmy Bradshaw had called the silken surf broke once again on the coral sand. The crash died away, and inside that crowded room there was no sound save the ticking of a small clock on a mantel beneath which fires were rarely lighted. With a gesture of despair, Alan Jaynes stepped to a table and, striking a match, applied it to one of his small cigars. Charlie crossed over and laid his hand on Fyfe’s shoulder.
“Why have you confessed to a deed you did not perform?” he asked. “That is something I warmly desire to know.”
The actor made no answer, nor did he so much as look up. Charlie turned to face Tarneverro.
“So Shelah Fane was seen alive at twelve minutes past eight?” the fortune-teller remarked suavely. “Would you mind telling
