More striking than the beautiful imageries and the wealth of quotation
from ancient and modern authors with which the Colonel embellished
his speech was his strong play upon "that fifteen minutes," which,
according to his interpretation of the evidence, elapsed between the
time the boys in Guerin's studio were ejected and the time when Archie
came out, leaving his brother and Mrs. McDonald alone, behind locked
doors.
"There need be nothing else in this case for you," exclaimed the
speaker, "than this fifteen minutes unaccounted for. Archie Guerin
knew what was going on there, and before God he should tell, but
he did not. He hurried away and cleared the corridors. Nervous and
confused, he hunted up Harry Feldman in the Windsor-Clifton Hotel, so
that if anything happened, he could say:
"'I didn't do it. You know I didn't, Feldman. I was right here with
you.'"