“What happened then?” cut in Goodall.
“Nothing much,” answered Peter—“the waiters rushed to repair the damage—that was all.”
“H’m,” commented the Inspector. “I know Lironi, the proprietor of the ‘Violette,’ pretty well. If I think it important enough I could see him—he might know something about them—they might be fairly regular customers of his. It depends on what I strike down here in Berkshire.” He looked across at Bathurst, who was sitting with his head sunk on one shoulder. Suddenly the latter sat up.
“What did the woman do, Daventry—anything noticeable?”
“Well, there again—it’s hard to say, definitely. But in my opinion she was pretty savage about the incident. She certainly tried to joke it off to the waiters, but I’m fairly confident she chewed the merchant’s ear off a bit—looked to me like it,” he affirmed.
Bathurst nodded. “I thought perhaps the truest indication of the value of the incident might be supplied by the conduct of the woman.” He spoke to Inspector Goodall. “Sherlock Holmes has laid it down, Inspector, that in moments of sudden alarm and anxiety, a single woman rushes for her jewel case—a married woman for her baby. This incident throws a further light on the question. It may be added now that the married woman on occasion gives her husband wordy castigation—as the present-day ‘argot’ would put it—she ‘ticks him off’!” He smiled. “Don’t you think so?”
“I don’t know that this particular pair represented husband and wife, Mr. Bathurst,” protested Goodall.
“I wouldn’t bank on the marriage certificate, myself, Inspector,” returned Anthony. “But there is just this to be said for what Daventry has told us. A woman crops up in two of our little scenes. There’s a woman in this incident and there’s the woman whose thirst for information took her to Day, Forshaw and Palmers’ at the identical moment when Mason and Druce, the two night-watchmen, were changing shifts.” He thought for a moment or two. “It’s certainly a point to be considered,” he concluded.
“There aren’t many ‘crooks’ that haven’t a woman in tow, nowadays,” declared Goodall. “The equality of the sexes has become very far-reaching. Still it’s deuced smart work for the same gang to have pulled off both these jobs—I can’t quite take that in myself—not yet.”
“Who’s in charge of the case down here?” queried Anthony. “Anybody you’ve run against before?”