“Then what did you do?”

“Went to one of the little hotels in the Quarter which isn’t too particular. I used an assumed name, because I thought Paul might try calling all the hotels.”

“And then what?”

“Shortly before nine I walked all the way down to the apartment. I wanted to get my purse, some of my toilet articles, grab a taxi, and go to work. There were a bunch of cars around the place, and a man who was standing at the curb told me a murder had been committed, said some lawyer had been found dead in a woman’s apartment, and the woman was missing. The police were looking for her.”

“And what did you do then?”

“Like a ninny, instead of making a clean breast of the situation and explaining it while it could have been explained, I got in a panic and dashed back to the hotel. I sent Edna a wire telling her to send money quickly, waiving identification and making the draft payable to that assumed name I’d registered under.”

“You wired?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t you try telephoning collect?”

“Yes.”