If she is guilty--as she must be, should she have
sent the emerald--she would not part with her plunder when she
is so hard up. I am beginning to believe, Hope, that what she
said was true about the letter."
"How do you mean exactly?"
"That the letter was mere bluff and that she really knows nothing
about the crime. By the way, did Braddock learn anything?"
"Not a thing. He merely said that the two of them fought. I
expect Braddock stormed and Mrs. Jasher retorted. Both of them
have too much tongue-music to come to any understanding. By the
way--to echo, your own phrase--you had better put away this gem
or I shall be strangling you myself in order to gain possession
of it. The mere sight of that gorgeous color tempts me beyond my
strength."
Random laughed and locked the jewel in his drawer. Hope
suggested that with such a flimsy lock it was unsafe, but the
baronet shook his head.
"It is safer here than in a woman's jewel case," he asserted.
"No one looks to my drawer, and certainly no one would expect to
find a crown jewel of this description in my quarters. Well," he
came back to his seat, slipping his keys into his trouser
pocket, "the whole thing puzzles me."
"Why not do as I suggest and go to Mrs.
Pages:
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344