“My dear Mrs. Whitley, do not be so hasty. Whatever my suspicions may be, I have not formulated them. In diplomacy one learns never to jump to conclusions; but I confess this seems to me to be a very mysterious and unpleasant affair. It makes me regret ever having come to a boarding-house, in spite of the advice of my dearest friend, the Duchess of Middlesex. ‘Don’t go to any such place, Mimi,’ she said. She always calls me ‘Mimi.’ ‘You never can tell who you may meet or what may happen, and it is so very unpleasant to be mixed up with persons with whom one cannot associate.’ Didn’t she, Angelo?”
Mr. Dumaresq, as usual, confirmed his wife’s statement.
“But do you really think there is something wrong—that a crime has been committed?” asked the little group of ladies one of the other.
“I, for one, should not be surprised,” said the medical woman boldly; “but it is well not to speak till one is certain, and of course I may be mistaken.”
“But did you—did you notice anything wrong in the room just now, any signs of a struggle, or—or poison of any kind, or a weapon?” asked Mrs. Whitley. “I suppose you looked?”
“Frankly,” said the medical woman, “I did not; I was so surprised and taken aback when I found she was not there, that I just looked at nothing at all except the bed. That had been slept in apparently, and I think the room was rather untidy, but I did not stay a moment.’
“Don’t you think, ladies,” said Mrs. Whitley, in a low voice, “that it would be well for Miss Lord and myself to run upstairs now and thoroughly investigate the apartment?”
The others agreed; so the medical lady and her satellite made their way to Miss Semaphore’s room, and conscientiously poked into every corner. They found nothing except a twist of Miss Augusta’s false hair, and a baby’s knitted boot. This last the medical woman picked up and held out.
“Where did this come from, I wonder,” said she; “I suppose one of them made it for some charity.”
“No doubt,” said Mrs. Whitley; and having fruitlessly investigated everything that had been left unlocked, and shaken every door, box, or wardrobe that was securely fastened, they turned to make their way to the morning room, a little disappointed at their fruitless search.