第8章

”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。