Part 41 (2/2)
”The matter of the paper-knife is, I think, just as Miss Prall explained it; she did give it to Sir Herbert to be mended, and he did have it in his pocket the night he was killed.”
”And the a.s.sailant did use it?” asked Zizi.
”Yes; or so it seems to me. But all this has nothing to do with the owner of the knife, for you see, Binney himself was the temporary owner to all intents and purposes.”
”Then that makes the deed seem unpremeditated and impulsive,” said Bates.
”Yes, it makes it seem so,--though it may not have been. But since my day's work, I've gathered suggestions and testimony,--though no material evidence, to turn my thoughts strongly toward the women on the seventh floor, Mrs Everett and her----”
”Her maid!” Bates interrupted, speaking with a desperate haste, as if afraid Wise would say some other word.
”No,” said Wise. ”Her daughter.”
”You lie!” Bates cried, and Zizi, her face white and drawn, said ”Oh, Penny, she _couldn't_!”
”Couldn't strike the blow, maybe, but she helped her mother, and did it by keeping watch. She was seen in the hall with a scarf over her head.”
CHAPTER XVI
Testimony
”It's inconceivable, it's impossible, it's incredible!” Richard Bates declared. ”I'll never believe it! Mrs Everett, even if she had the will, could never accomplish such a deed!”
”But that Kate person could,” Zizi suggested, and Bates turned to her.
”But Mr Wise doesn't accuse the maid,--he accuses the daughter! A gentle, innocent young girl----”
”Now, wait a minute,” put in Wise; ”I don't say the daughter was at fault,--she might have been a tool without knowing it. I mean, she may have kept watch for her mother----”
”What do you mean,--kept watch? Miss Everett is not a numskull to be told to 'keep watch' and blindly obey.”
”Nor is Mrs Everett ninny enough to expect that,” Wise returned. ”But the lady is clever enough to persuade her daughter to keep a lookout on some plausible pretense----”
”But I don't understand,” Bates persisted; ”just how do you reconstruct the crime,--on that theory?”
”Why, say Mrs Everett was in waiting, till Binney should come in----”
”Where was she?” Bates demanded.
”Perhaps behind one of the big pillars in the onyx lobby,--a dozen people could hide behind them----”
”Rubbis.h.!.+ But go on.”
”Well, say she hid there with the knife, which she had procured from Binney earlier,--he admired her, you know----”
”He admired every pretty woman. Go on.”
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