Apparently within the last few hours. Sally Bangor, employed as a servant, made the discovery, and surprised the murderer red-handed in the study. Death apparently by gunshot Body lying sprawled out on the floor of his study. Outer door open. Dog inside a converted closet where George kept him shut up when he was expecting visitors. Whats the idea? Drake asked. Cowl wasnt there, and he wondered where the man might be. Nan strode into the room.Is anybody ready for a snack? Another noise from somewhere on the road jostled me. I gaped behind to see a sedan of some kind driving faster than it should have eastward. Were in, and weve got a rental car. Be with you in half an hour. She didnt sign the papers. He reported that she refused to sign them, refused to see him after that, and disappeared, presumably a suicide in a fit of despondency. Just for my thoughts, I said. And next he wondered if Chilton was here tonight. If so, the gig would be up. He hadnt seen the BMW Eight in the courtyard, but a guy like Chilton would have multiple cars. And maybe someone who drove him places when he so desired. Maybe the punk owned the Duesenberg. How did he find that out? It is, yes, sir. What Im saying is that somebody did stage this assassination attempt and staged it in such a way that it would clearly be exposed as a fake — and then planted the rifle in Cory Tuckers trunk so it would appear that we concocted the whole thing ourselves. He walked down the street, put on his helmet, cranked his bike, and blew past as she stood outside an alley where three large and disappointed young men lay with the citys trash. Pile some boards, a stool and a couple of hundred pounds of scrap iron on it, cover the whole thing with a cloth and be prepared to wheel it into court tomorrow when I give you a signal. Never mind why. Just get the stuff together. I hope so, Mason said. I dont dare to shoot any bullets to find out. Well make a reasonable test. Krogar returned and sat down.Smells like paint in there, he said..