"Let me look at it for a moment," said I.
Mr. Gryce at once handed it over, and I took a good look at it inside and out.
"It is pretty badly crushed," I observed, "and does not present a very fresh appearance, but for all that it has been worn but once."
"How do you know?" questioned the Coroner.
"Let the other Richmond inform you," was my grimly uttered reply, as I gave it again into the detective's hand.
There was a murmur about me, whether of amusement or displeasure, I made no effort to decide. I was finding out something for myself, and I did not care what they thought of me.
"Neither has she worn this dress long," I continued; "but that is not true of the shoes. They are not old, but they have been acquainted with the pavement, and that is more than can be said of the hem of this gown. There are no gloves on her hands; a few minutes elapsed then before the assault; long enough for her to take them off."
"Smart woman!" whispered a voice in my ear; a half-admiring, half-sarcastic voice that I had no difficulty in ascribing to Mr. Gryce. "But are you sure she wore any? Did you notice that her hand was gloved when she came into the house?"
"No," I answered, frankly; "but so well-dressed a woman would not enter a house like this, without gloves."
"It was a warm night," some one suggested.