"From what I could gather, you seem to think it possible that Skeel witnessed the murder. That couldn't by any stretch of the imagination, be your precious theory?"
"That's part of it, anyway."
"My dear Vance, you do astonish me!" Markham laughed outright. "Skeel, then, according to you, is innocent; but he keeps his knowledge to himself, invents an alibi, and doesn't even tattle until he's arrested. . . . It won't hold water."
"I know," sighed Vance. It's a veritable sieve. And yet, the notion haunts me - it rides me like a hag - it eats into my vitals."
"Do you realize that this mad theory of yours presupposes that, when Spotswoode and Miss Odell returned from the theater, there were two men hidden in the apartment - two men unknown to each other - namely Skeel and your hypothetical murderer?"
"Of course I realize it; and the thought of it is breaking down my reason."
(from The "Canary" Murder Case, by S. S. Van Dine)
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