“Was a Mrs. Brooks staying here at the time?”
“Yes. I remember her well. With two nieces.”
“Please describe her,” urged Mary Louise.
“She is tall and stout—weighs around a hundred and eighty, I should judge. About fifty years old, with black hair done very severely—looks like a wig. Dresses well and wears jewelry. Has false teeth and an ugly mouth, but seems a great favorite with young people.... That’s about all.”
“That’s enough,” said Mr. Gay. “Now, can you tell me just what was stolen?”
The detective wrote down the articles on a slip of paper. “A bag containing two pearl rings, and two hundred dollars.” The bag was valuable in itself, being made of gold mesh, he told them.
“Thank you very much,” said Mr. Gay as he pocketed the list. “I’ll let you know if I have any success.”
The taxi was waiting outside the hotel, and Mary Louise jumped into it first.
“I’ll ride to the station with you, Daddy,” she said. “Do you think you’ll be back tonight?”
“Maybe,” he answered. “But we’ll have a fine Christmas together tomorrow.”