"Perhaps--" "No--not yet!" answered Allerdyke.

"I daresay they'll have to be called in; indeed, I suppose it's absolutely necessary, because of the inquest, but I'll wait until I hear what these doctors have to say, and, besides that, I want to get some news from London.

It's a queer business altogether, and if there has been any foul play, why"-- he paused and looked round at the people who were passing in and out of the hall, in a corner of which he and the manager were standing--"we can't hold up all these folk and ask 'em if they know anything, you know," he added, with a grim smile.
"That's the devil of it! If there has, as I say, been aught wrong--murder, to put it plainly--why, the criminal or criminals may already be off or going off now, amongst these people, and I can't stop them.

In a few hours they may be where nobody can find them--don't you see ?" The manager did see, and shrugged his shoulders with a gesture of helplessness.

Again he could only suggest expert help from the police--but this time he added to his suggestion the remark that he understood there was nothing for the police to take hold of--no clue, no signs of foul play.
"Not yet," agreed Allerdyke.