”Youhavewashedthis?”heasked。”No。WhyshouldIwashit?Itwascleanenough。Iwasjustgoingdowntogiveitinatthedesk。Iwasn’tgoingtocarryitaway。”Andsheturnedasidetothewindowandbegantohum,asthoughdonewiththewholematter。
Theolddetectiverubbedhischin,glancedagainatthepaper-cutter,thenatthegirlinthewindow,andlastlyatthemother,whohadliftedherheadagainandwasfacinghimbravely。”Itisveryimportant,”heobservedtothelatter,”thatyourdaughtershouldbecorrectinherstatementastotheconditionofthisarticlewhenshepickeditup。Areyousureshedidnotwashit?””Idon’tthinkshedid。ButI’msureshewilltellyouthetruthaboutthat。Caroline,thisisapolicematter。Anymistakeaboutitmayinvolveusinaworldoftroubleandkeepyoufromgettingbackhomeintimeforyourcoming-outparty。Didyou-didyouwashthiscutterwhenyougotupstairs,or-or-”sheadded,withapropitiatoryglanceatMr。Gryce-wipeitoffatanytimebetweenthenandnow?Don’tanswerhastily。Besure。Noonecanblameyouforthatact。Anygirl,asthoughtlessasyou,mightdothat。””Mother,howcanItellwhatIdid?”flashedoutthegirl,wheelingroundonherheeltillshefacedthemboth。”Idon’trememberdoingathingtoit。Ijustbroughtitup。Athingfoundlikethatbelongstothefinder。Youneedn’tholditouttowardsmelikethat。
Idon’twantitnow;I’msickofit。Suchalotoftalkaboutapaltrythingwhichcouldn’thavecosttendollars。”Andshewheeledback。”Itisn’tthevalue。”Mr。Grycecouldbeverypatient。”It’sthefactthatwebelieveittohavebeenanswerableforMissChalloner’sdeath-thatis,iftherewasanybloodonitwhenyoupickeditup。””Blood!”Thegirlwasfacingthemagain,astonishmentstrugglingwithdisgustonherplainbutmobilefeatures。”Blood!isthatwhatyoumean。NowonderIhateit。Takeitaway,”shecried。”Oh,mother,I’llneverpickupanythingagainwhichdoesn’tbelongtome!Blood!”sherepeatedinhorror,flingingherselfintohermother’sarms。
Mr。Grycethoughtheunderstoodthesituation。Herewasalittlekleptomaniacwhoseweaknessthemotherwasstrugglingtohide。
Lightwaspouringin。Hefelthisbody’sweightlessonthatmiserablefootofhis。”Doesthatfrightenyou?Areyousoaffectedbythethoughtofblood?””Don’taskme。AndIputthethingundermypillow!Ithoughtitwasso-sopretty。””Mrs。Watkins,”Mr。Grycefromthatmomentignoredthedaughter,”didyouseeitthere?””Yes;butIdidn’tknowwhereitcamefrom。Ihadnotseenmydaughterstoop。Ididn’tknowwhereshegotittillIreadthatbulletin。””Nevermindthat。Thequestionagitatingmeiswhetheranystainwasleftunderthatpillow。Wewanttobesureoftheconnectionbetweenthispossibleweaponandthedeathbystabbingwhichwealldeplore-ifthereisaconnection。””Ididn’tseeanystain,butyoucanlookforyourself。Thebedhasbeenmadeup,buttherewasnochangeoflinen。Weexpectedtoremainhere;Iseenogoodtobegainedbyhidinganyofthefactsnow。””Nonewhatever,Madam。””Come,then。Caroline,sitdownandstopcrying。Mr。Grycebelievesthatyouronlyfaultwasinnottakingthisobjectatoncetothedesk。””Yes,that’sall,”acquiescedthedetectiveafterashortstudyoftheshakingfigureanddistortedfeaturesofthegirl。”Youhadnoidea,I’msure,wherethisweaponcamefrom,orforwhatithadbeenused。That’sevident。”
Hershudder,assheseatedherself,wasveryconvincing。Shewastooyoungtosimulatesosuccessfullyemotionsofthischaracter。”I’mgladofthat,”sheresponded,halffretfully,halfgratefully,asMr。Grycefollowedhermotherintotheadjoiningroom。”I’vehadabadenoughtimeofitwithoutbeingblamedforwhatIdidn’tknowanddidn’tdo。”
Mr。Grycelaidlittlestressuponthesewords,butmuchuponthelackofcuriositysheshowedintheminuteandcarefulexaminationhenowmadeofherroom。Therewasnostainonthepillow-coverandnoneonthebureau-spreadwhereshemightverynaturallyhavelaidthecutterdownonfirstcomingintoherroom。Thebladewassopolishedthatitmusthavebeenrubbedoffsomewhere,eitherpurposelyorbyaccident。Wherethen,sincenothere?Heaskedtoseehergloves-theonesshehadwornthepreviousnight。”Theyarethesamesheiswearingnow,”theanxiousmotherassuredhim。”Wait,andIwillgetthemforyou。””Noneed。Letherholdoutherhandsintokenofamity。Ishallsoonsee。”
Theyreturnedtowherethegirlstillsat,wrappedinhercloak,sobbingstill,butnotsoviolently。”Caroline,youmaytakeoffyourthings,”saidthemother,drawingthepinsfromherownhat。”Weshallnotgoto-day。”
Thechildshothermotheronedisappointedlook,thenproceededtofollowsuit。Whenherhatwasoff,shebegantotakeoffhergloves。
Assoonastheywereonthetable,themotherpushedthemovertoMr。
Gryce。Ashelookedatthem,thegirlliftedoffhercloak。”Will-willhetell?”shewhisperedbehinditsamplefoldsintohermother’sear。
Theanswercamequickly,butnotinthemother’stones。Mr。Gryce’searshadlostnoneoftheirancientacuteness。”IdonotseethatIshouldgainmuchbydoingso。TheonediscoverywhichwouldlinkthisfindofyoursindissolublywithMissChalloner’sdeath,Ihavefailedtomake。IfIamequallyunsuccessfulbelow-ifIcanestablishnocloserconnectiontherethanherebetweenthiscutterandtheweaponwhichkilledMissChalloner,Ishallhavenocausetomentionthematter。Itwillbetooextraneoustothecase。Doyouremembertheexactspotwhereyoustooped,MissWatkins?””No,no。Somewherenearthosebigchairs;Ididn’thavetostepoutofmyway;Ireallydidn’t。”
Mr。Gryce’sansweringsmilewasastudy。Itseemedtoconveyatwo-foldmessage,oneforthemotherandoneforthechild,andbothwerecomforting。Buthewentaway,disappointed。Theclewwhichpromisedsomuchwas,toallappearance,afalseone。
Hecouldsoontell。
VI
INTEGRITY
Mr。Gryce’sfearswereonlytoowellfounded。ThoughMr。McElroywaskindenoughtopointouttheexactspotwherehesawMissWatkinsstoop,notraceofbloodwasfoundupontherugwhichhadlainthere,norhadanythingofthekindbeenwashedupbytheverycarefulmanwhoscrubbedthelobbyfloorintheearlymorning。Thiswasdisappointing,asitspresencewouldhavesettledthewholequestion。
When,theseeffortsallexhausted,thetwodetectivesfacedeachotheragaininthesmallroomgivenuptotheiruse,Mr。Gryceshowedhisdiscouragement。Tobecertainofafactyoucannotprovehasnotthesamealluringqualityfortheoldthatithasfortheyoung。
Sweetwaterwatchedhiminsomeconcern,thenwiththepersistencewhichwasoneofhisstrongpoints,venturedfinallytoremark:”Ihavebutoneidealeftonthesubject。””Andwhatisthat?”Oldashewas,Mr。Grycewasalertinamoment。”Thegirlworearedcloak。IfImistakenot,theliningwasalsored。Aspotonitmightnotshowtothecasualobserver。Yetitwouldmeanmuchtous。””Sweetwater!”
Afaintblushrosetotheoldman’scheek。”ShallIrequesttheprivilegeoflookingthatgarmentover?”Yes。”
Theyoungfellowduckedandlefttheroom。Whenhereturned,itwaswithadowncastair。”Nothingdoing,”saidhe。
Andthentherewassilence。”WeonlyneedtofindoutnowthatthiscutterwasnotevenMissChalloner’sproperty,”remarkedMr。Gryce,atlast,withagesturetowardstheobjectnamed,lyingopenlyonthetablebeforehim。”Thatshouldbeeasy。ShallItakeittotheirroomsandshowittohermaid?””Ifyoucandosowithoutdisturbingtheoldgentleman。”
Butheretheywerethemselvesdisturbed。Aknockatthedoorwasfollowedbytheimmediateentranceoftheverypersonjustmentioned。
Mr。Challonerhadcomeinsearchoftheinspector,andshowedsomesurprisetofindhisplaceoccupiedbyanunknownoldman。