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“Begging humblest pardon,” Chan cut in, “did you by any chance consult own timepiece?”

“Aye, that I did,” returned the old man. His manner was very earnest and there was an unmistakable ring of truth to his words. “I took out my watch——” He removed an old-fashioned timepiece from his pocket. “‘I’m a wee bit fast,’ I said. ‘Eight-thirty-five, I make it. Mother, it’s time old folks like us went up-stairs.’ You see, on the ranch we were always early abed, and well-established habits are hard to break. So we came into the hotel. Mother and I stopped at the elevators, and Mr. Tarneverro went round the corner to his own room on the first floor. While we waited for the lift, I stepped to the desk to set my watch the correct time. Eighty-thirty-two it was then, and I made the change. Those are the facts, Inspector, and Mother and I will swear to them.”

Chan nodded. “The speech of some is like wind in empty space,” he said. “But blind man could see your word is good.”

“Aye, it always has been. From Aberdeen to Queensland no one has ever questioned it, Inspector.”

“You have known Mr. Tarneverro long time?” Charlie asked.

Tarneverro answered. “Ten years ago,” he remarked, “I was playing in a Melbourne theater. I was an actor in those days, you know. Our company stranded, and I went out to Mr. MacMaster’s ranch, a few miles from Brisbane, to work for him. I stayed a year—the happiest year of my life. For as you may see by looking at them, these two are the kindest people in the world, and they were like father and mother to me——”