Pfyfe says the house was dark whenhe drove up. He
turned to Markham with a tantalizing smile.
Benson, you turned outthe lights, of course? When
aman like Pfyfe fails to specify the sex of a person, it is safe toassume the
feminine gender. With a friendly, appreciative bow to Vance, he went out. I am all
the time having to holdhim down.
And what part did the jewels play in the chit-chat?
Benson was shot, he took home with him from the officea small blue box of
jewels.
Butnow, I fancy, the time has come to put an end to
the comedietta.
How did it happen that he was reading at the time?
A shadow darkened her face, but her voice remained even.
Call up the major and ask him to come here
atonce.
And when she was suspected, you at once took the
gun away and threwit into the East River? Even Goethe cried for mehr Licht; and
hereare you in a state of luminous saturation!
The district attorney wants to hear your storyof
the shooting. But the more I try to reason it out, the more of a mysterythe whole
thing becomes.
Butlater I was persuaded that she was not directly
involved.
If the major canenlighten us on any point, I think
Sergeant Heath should be presentto hear him. He therefore rang at once for
Swackerand informed him he was quitting the office for the day.
He said it was luckythat he did, seeing that a
machine just like his had been at Mr. Id call it a dirty,contemptible, underhand
trick. Indeed, Vances lightheartedness seemed to buoy him up. When he spoke, it
waswith dogged sullenness.
In fact, Im jolly glad the captainhas gone in for
imagnative litrature. No one could lie as badlyas he did who hadnt been born into
the world that way.
Heath, becoming restless, finally spoke up.