Explore "The Hand in the Dark" by Arthur J. Rees on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
As they reached the library again a small silver clock on the mantelpiece gave a single chime. Merrington looked at it, and then glanced at his watch.
"Half-past eight!" he said. "That clock is five minutes slow--by me. The people who have been staying here will go off after breakfast. Visitors always leave a house of trouble as soon as possible--like rats deserting a sinking ship. The thing is to question as many as we can get hold of before they go. As some of them knew Mrs. Heredith before her marriage, we may elicit something about her or her antecedents which will throw some light on the motive for the crime."