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Bradshaw came forward. He introduced Julie to Chan, and went on to explain the girl’s place in the household.

“My heart’s deepest sympathy,” Charlie remarked. “As mere matter of form, I must ask about your actions during this most tragic evening.”

“I can tell you all about that,” Bradshaw informed him, “and kill two birds—oh, sorry—I mean to say, give you my own story at the same time. I arrived at the house early for a swim with Miss O’Neill. The last time we saw Miss Fane was in this room when we came down dressed for the water—that was about seven-forty. She was here with Mr. and Mrs. Ballou, and Mr. Jaynes.”

“You went immediately to the beach?”

“We did—and on into the water. It was marvelous—pardon me if I put in a small advertisement for the local bathing beach. What I mean to say is, Miss O’Neill and I were together from the time we saw Miss Fane until about eight-thirty, when Jessop rang the gong calling us in. It was soon after that we made our unhappy discovery.”

“You remained in water at all times?”

“Oh, no—we came back to the beach now and then. Mrs. Ballou was there from the start, as she says. Mr. Ballou disappeared toward the last and Mr. Van Horn showed up.”

“At two minutes past eight, then, you and Miss Julie were either in water or making brief excursion to shore?”

“One or the other—we had no means of knowing the time, of course. It went very quickly. We were surprised when Jessop called us in.”