âcanât decide whether to quit our service or stay, Mr. Queen. Suppose you tell him what the situation is.â
âThe situation,â said Mr. Queen, impaling Cuttins on his glance, âis that this house and everyone in it are under surveillance of the police, Cuttins, and since you canât very well skip out without a police alarm being broadcast in your honor, youâd be well advised to get me something to eat instantly.â
âVery good, sir,â muttered Cuttins; and he oozed rapidly out.
âIâm still punchy,â said Sheila vaguely. âI canât seem to get it through my thick head that Bobâs dead. Dead. Not of pneumonia. Not hit by an automobile. Killed by a bullet from Thurlowâs gun in a duel. Such a s-silly way to die!â Sheila bent suddenly over her plate. She did not look at Charley Paxton, who sat stricken.
âSomethingâs happened between you two,â said Ellery keenly, glancing from one to the other.
âSheilaâs called off our engagement,â murmured Charley.
âWell,â said Ellery cheerfully, âdonât treat it like some major convulsion of nature, Charley. A girl has a right to change her mind. And youâre not the handsomest specimen roving the New York jungle.â
âIt isnât that,â said Sheila quickly. âI stillââ She bit her lip.
âIt isnât?â Ellery stole a slice of bread from Charleyâs bread-and-butter plate. âThen what is it, Sheila?â
Sheila did not answer.
âThis is no time to split up,â cried Charley. âIâll never understand women! Hereâs a girl up to her neck in trouble. Youâd think sheâd want my arms around her. Instead, she pushed me away just now! Wonât let me kiss her, wonât let me share her unhappinessââ
âEvery fact has a number of alternative explanations,â murmured Mr. Queen. âMaybe you had garlic for lunch yesterday, Charley.â
Sheila smiled despite herself. Then she said in despair: âThereâs nothing else for me to do, I tell you.â
âJust because poor Bob was murdered,â Charley said bitterly. âI suppose if my father had died on the gallows rather than home in bed, youâd run out on me, wouldnât you?â
âCough up, sweetheart,â said Mr. Queen gently.
âAll right, I will!â Sheilaâs dimples dug hard. âCharley, Iâve always told you that the main reason I was holding off our marriage was because Mother would cut me off without a cent if we went through with it, and that that wouldnât be fair to you. Well, I wasnât being honest. As if I cared two cents whether Mother left me anything or not! Iâd be happy with you if I had to live in a one-room shack.â
âIt isnât that?â The young lawyer was bewildered. âBut then what possible reason, darlingâ?â
âCharley, look at us. Thurlow. Louella. Horatioââ
âWait a minuteââ
âYou canât get away from the horrid truth just by ignoring it. Theyâre insane, every one of them.â Sheilaâs voice soared. âHow do I know I havenât got the same streak in me? How do I know?â
âBut Sheila dearest, theyâre not your full brothers and sistersâtheyâre half-brothers, Louellaâs a half-sister.â
âWe have the same mother.â
âBut you know perfectly well that Thurlow, Louella, and Horatio inherited theirâwhatever they inheritedânot from your mother but from their father, whose blood isnât in you at all. And thereâs certainly nothing wrong with Steveââ
âHow do I know that?â asked Sheila stridently. âLook at my mother. Is she like other people?â
âThereâs nothing wrong with the Old Woman but plain, ordinary cussedness. Sheila, youâre dramatizing. This
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