“Yes; or so it seems to me. But all this has nothing to do with the owner of the knife, for you see, Binney himself was the temporary owner to all intents and purposes.”
“Then that makes the deed seem unpremeditated and impulsive,” said Bates.
“Yes, it makes it seem so,—though it may not have been. But since my day’s work, I’ve gathered suggestions and testimony,—though no material evidence, to turn my thoughts strongly toward the women on the seventh floor, Mrs Everett and her——”
“Her maid!” Bates interrupted, speaking with a desperate haste, as if afraid Wise would say some other word.
“No,” said Wise. “Her daughter.”
“You lie!” Bates cried, and Zizi, her face white and drawn, said “Oh, Penny, she couldn’t!”
“Couldn’t strike the blow, maybe, but she helped her mother, and did it by keeping watch. She was seen in the hall with a scarf over her head.”