“’Most always; but sometimes somebody I’d know’d come, like Mr. Talcott or Miss Olive, and they’d just nod or smile at me and walk right in at Mr. Gately’s door. So I says, ‘Yes, sir,’ and I looked sharp that nobody rushed me. Mr. Gately, he trusted me, and I was careful to do just what he said, always.”
“Well, go on. Who called?”
“First, Mr. Smith; and then Mrs. Driggs; and after them, Miss Olive.”
“Miss Raynor?”
“Yes, of course!” and Jenny spoke flippantly. “I even announced her, ’cause I had strick orders. Miss Olive, she just laughed and waited till I come back and said she might go in.”
“What time was this?”
“Couldn’t say for sure. ’Long about two or three, I guess.”
Jenny was assiduously chewing gum, and her manner was far from deferential, which annoyed the Chief.
“Try to remember more nearly,” he said, sharply. “Was Miss Raynor there before or after the other two callers you mentioned?”
“Well, now, it’s awful hard to tell that.” Jenny cocked her head on one side, and indulged in what she doubtless considered most fetching eye-play. “I ain’t a two-legged time-table!”