“This is the Brooklyn Bridge Emergency Hospital. Do you know a girl named Letitia Rashleigh?”

There was a second’s hesitation. “I was once a lady’s maid to a lady whose maiden name was Rashleigh. I think there may be a connection somewhere.”

“She was found unconscious on a car in the subway last night and brought in here.”

“And has she mentioned me?”

290

“She hasn’t mentioned anyone since she came to; but we find your address on a paper in her pocket.”

“That seems singular, but I expect there’s a purpose behind it. Is that everything she had?”

“No; she had forty-five cents and a thimble.”

“A thimble! Just an ordinary thimble.”

“Yes, an ordinary thimble, except that it has initials on the edge. ‘H.T. from H.S.’ Does that mean anything to you?”