“Have you found out whose it is?” Roger asked, looking up quickly.
“I have,” replied the inspector contentedly.
Anthony’s heart almost stopped beating. “Whose?” he asked in a strained voice.
“It’s a button off a sports-coat belonging to Miss Cross.”
For a moment there was a tense silence. Then Roger asked the question that was burning a hole in his brain.
“Was Miss Cross wearing the coat when she went out for her walk with Mrs. Vane?”
“She was, sir,” replied the inspector with a more serious air than he had yet displayed. “And when she got back to the house that button was missing from it.”
Chapter VII.
Sidelights on a Loathsome Lady
“I tell you I don’t care!” Anthony almost shouted. “To say that girl had anything to do with the wretched woman’s death is too damned silly for words!”
“But I’m not saying so,” Roger pointed out patiently. “I don’t think she had, in spite of everything. What I am saying is that we can’t dismiss the possibility of it in this cocksure way just because she’s got a pretty face. The inspector isn’t⸺”