Janet said “You are stark crazy—or else you are a plain fool. It isn’t just the sneakiness of it—reading private records. It’s the cruelty. It’s violating another person’s rights to his own secrets. Petra, how could you? Are you crazy?”
She must be. Petra thought so herself now. It was worse than reading other people’s letters, reading a doctor’s records of cases. Any one who wasn’t crazy would know that. Even young children knew better than to open drawers in other people’s houses. She was crazy, crazy, crazy! She was ready to die!
“Why weren’t the files locked, Miss Frazier? How did this happen? How was it possible?” Doctor Pryne had come in without either of them noticing. His voice was hard—cold too—like ice. There was a white area around his lips.
“You went off with the key, Doctor. You were writing up the Fountain dope. I knew the files weren’t locked but I was leaving Miss Farwell in charge, you see. I was gone only a few minutes. I never dreamed that she herself would open the files. How could I?”
The secretary had nothing more to say, nothing more to look. Her face was paper white—white with anger at Petra, at herself, at Doctor Pryne. She went into her own little office and shut the door behind her with something approximating a slam. In another second the racket of an angry typewriter came in from her office by way of the doctor’s open windows.
“Better put those cards away now. Are they in their right order?”
Petra looked down from Doctor Pryne’s cold face to her hands and what they were all unconsciously still holding. She put the cards back into the drawer with careful quickness. “Yes, they are in their right order.” She almost whispered it. Her throat felt thick. Perhaps she was going to lose her speech as McCloud had lost his, or it might be tears.
“Petra! Why did you?”
“I wanted to know about this Neil McCloud. I was terribly interested.”
“Why?” And then with sudden sick suspicion Lewis asked, “Do you know his wife? Is that why you were interested?”