Just like the girl in the shop."
"I'm glad it's a success." Miss Warren laughed down at her employer.
Mrs. Smiles took her in, from the curls of her topknot to the lacquer on her fingernails that matched the paint on her lips. She said: "It's just right. Did the slippers come?"
Miss Warren put out a foot in what looked like a fragment of green-and-gold net.
"The girl's her hobby," thought Gamadge.
Miss Warren led the way for him across the room, and through an archway in the northwest corner of it. As they entered a little oblong space which communicated with the hall by an arched door, she turned and looked him full in the face. "I never heard Vina speak of you," she said.
"Mr. Colby introduced me this afternoon."
The writing-room was pretty yet sombre, with dark-gold Japanese paper on its walls, and three pieces of black-and-gold furniture: a desk and two chairs. Miss Warren lighted a lamp on the desk and sat down on one of the chairs. She sat very straight. Gamadge, facing her, was glad that he had brought his cigarette along with him; he was sure that Miss Warren would never invite him to smoke, or to make himself in any other way at home.
She looked at him, the bluish light of the desk lamp bringing out her masklike decoration of eye shadow, mascara, and rouge. Gamadge attacked brusquely:
"Your cousin, Mrs. Curtis Gregson, told me this afternoon that in the last few months there have been four attempts on her life."
Miss Warren continued to look silently at him, but Gamadge thought she had ceased to see him; she was engaged in fierce inner consultation. He waited until she spoke.
"Are you a detective?" she asked.
"Me? No."
"Are you connected with the police?"
"Certainly not. I sometimes investigate cases when I'm asked to do so by people I like. Colby asked me to investigate this one."
"Vina has never mentioned these attempts to me."
"But Mrs. Stoner has done so. Did she call you up this afternoon? You knew who I was, I could see that."
"Of course Minnie called me up."
"Did she tell you about the anonymous letters, too?"
"Yes."
"I advised Mrs. Gregson to consult the police, you know. She refused to do so."
"I don't blame her."
"But practically all that I can do for her is to ask questions. I have seen Mr. Locke, and tomorrow I shall drive up to Burford and talk to Mrs. Stoner."
She asked quickly: "Are they going back there?"
"Mrs. Stoner didn't call you up and tell you that she's going? Mrs. Gregson is going to disappear for a whileâby my advice."
After a moment Miss Warren said: "I suppose that's wise."
"Yes, the matter seems urgent; too urgent for a delicate approach. Can you illuminate the darkness in any way, Miss Warren? As I explained to Mr. Locke, I have a free hand; I shall treat what you say as confidential, unless I am forced to use it to prevent a crime."
"I have no information to give you, and I can assure you that Minnie Stoner has none. We are both completely bewildered by the story."
"You can recall nothing significant, which may have escaped you at the time, about that mackerel with the poison in it?"
"I never thought of poison. It's perfectly horrible and perfectly incredibleâall of it." She turned her head away from him.
"Yet there was arsenic in that fruit cake. Tell me, Miss Warren: is there any possibility of Mrs. Stoner's not being in her right mind? She seemed a trifle vague and wild to me."
"Of course she's in her right mind. If she's vague and wild, she has every reason to be." Cecilia Warren turned her head back to stare at him. "Don't put this on her. It's ridiculous. She has no motive."
"In a case like this, the field widens to include friends of the parties directly interested."
Cecilia Warren suddenly looked as though she had run into something in the dark. Gamadge went on: "The same can be said for the Gregson case three years ago; but evidence was not forthcoming to justify other arrests, and murder trials are a great expense to the State."
There
"I'm glad it's a success." Miss Warren laughed down at her employer.
Mrs. Smiles took her in, from the curls of her topknot to the lacquer on her fingernails that matched the paint on her lips. She said: "It's just right. Did the slippers come?"
Miss Warren put out a foot in what looked like a fragment of green-and-gold net.
"The girl's her hobby," thought Gamadge.
Miss Warren led the way for him across the room, and through an archway in the northwest corner of it. As they entered a little oblong space which communicated with the hall by an arched door, she turned and looked him full in the face. "I never heard Vina speak of you," she said.
"Mr. Colby introduced me this afternoon."
The writing-room was pretty yet sombre, with dark-gold Japanese paper on its walls, and three pieces of black-and-gold furniture: a desk and two chairs. Miss Warren lighted a lamp on the desk and sat down on one of the chairs. She sat very straight. Gamadge, facing her, was glad that he had brought his cigarette along with him; he was sure that Miss Warren would never invite him to smoke, or to make himself in any other way at home.
She looked at him, the bluish light of the desk lamp bringing out her masklike decoration of eye shadow, mascara, and rouge. Gamadge attacked brusquely:
"Your cousin, Mrs. Curtis Gregson, told me this afternoon that in the last few months there have been four attempts on her life."
Miss Warren continued to look silently at him, but Gamadge thought she had ceased to see him; she was engaged in fierce inner consultation. He waited until she spoke.
"Are you a detective?" she asked.
"Me? No."
"Are you connected with the police?"
"Certainly not. I sometimes investigate cases when I'm asked to do so by people I like. Colby asked me to investigate this one."
"Vina has never mentioned these attempts to me."
"But Mrs. Stoner has done so. Did she call you up this afternoon? You knew who I was, I could see that."
"Of course Minnie called me up."
"Did she tell you about the anonymous letters, too?"
"Yes."
"I advised Mrs. Gregson to consult the police, you know. She refused to do so."
"I don't blame her."
"But practically all that I can do for her is to ask questions. I have seen Mr. Locke, and tomorrow I shall drive up to Burford and talk to Mrs. Stoner."
She asked quickly: "Are they going back there?"
"Mrs. Stoner didn't call you up and tell you that she's going? Mrs. Gregson is going to disappear for a whileâby my advice."
After a moment Miss Warren said: "I suppose that's wise."
"Yes, the matter seems urgent; too urgent for a delicate approach. Can you illuminate the darkness in any way, Miss Warren? As I explained to Mr. Locke, I have a free hand; I shall treat what you say as confidential, unless I am forced to use it to prevent a crime."
"I have no information to give you, and I can assure you that Minnie Stoner has none. We are both completely bewildered by the story."
"You can recall nothing significant, which may have escaped you at the time, about that mackerel with the poison in it?"
"I never thought of poison. It's perfectly horrible and perfectly incredibleâall of it." She turned her head away from him.
"Yet there was arsenic in that fruit cake. Tell me, Miss Warren: is there any possibility of Mrs. Stoner's not being in her right mind? She seemed a trifle vague and wild to me."
"Of course she's in her right mind. If she's vague and wild, she has every reason to be." Cecilia Warren turned her head back to stare at him. "Don't put this on her. It's ridiculous. She has no motive."
"In a case like this, the field widens to include friends of the parties directly interested."
Cecilia Warren suddenly looked as though she had run into something in the dark. Gamadge went on: "The same can be said for the Gregson case three years ago; but evidence was not forthcoming to justify other arrests, and murder trials are a great expense to the State."
There
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