“Then how could the beads get there? They were her property, worn by her.”
“Once, I admit, but not necessarily on this journey. Suppose she had given the mantle away—to her maid, for instance; I believe ladies often pass on their things to their maids.”
“It is all pure presumption, a mere theory. This maid—she has not as yet been imported into the discussion.”
“Then I would suggest that you do so without delay. She is to my mind a—well, rather a curious person.”
“You know her—spoke to her?”
“I know her, in a way. I had seen her in the Via Margutta, and I nodded to her when she came first into the car.”
“And on the journey—you spoke to her frequently?”
“I? Oh, dear, no, not at all. I noticed her, certainly; I could not help it, and perhaps I ought to tell her mistress. She seemed to make friends a little too readily with people.”
“As for instance—?”
“With the porter to begin with. I saw them together at Laroche, in the buffet at the bar; and that Italian, the man who was in here before me; indeed, with the murdered man. She seemed to know them all.”