"I don't know what I expect; but the fact is, Mr. Shawe, I have made friends with all the four girls in the shop. Madame Coralie for her own sake will say nothing, but if those girls know anything I may induce them to speak. Badoura"--Miss Toat ticked off the names on her fingers--"can be worked by appealing to her jealousy, as she loves Eddy Vail. Zobeide, who is deaf, is anxious to get money and retire with her mother, whom she dearly loves, to the seaside. Peri Banou is an extravagant little minx, who is always in want of cash; while Parizade has a lover."
"Really!" Ralph expressed his astonishment. "But she is blind."
"She is pretty, and the man who loves her is an artist. Now, if I offer to share the reward of one thousand pounds with any one of these girls I may learn much; in fact, I am going to the shop to see Parizade to-night."
"I thought you had learnt all you wished to learn from her," said Shawe, uneasily. He had been told on a previous occasion what the blind girl knew, and the information had not pleased him.
"I wish to check her statements," said Miss Toat, quickly. "However, to-morrow something may be learnt worth your hearing from Badoura. She is one of the witnesses for the alibi, and I intend to ask her at what time Madame Coralie left the still-room to see Miss Branwin at the door of the shop."
"But I don't quite see--"
"How can you, Mr. Shawe? You are not a detective. Everyone to his trade."
"Her trade," corrected the barrister, quietly, as a return for the snub. "However, I shall see you to-morrow, and I trust that you will have something to tell me."
"I shall do my best. I can't do more," replied Perry Toat, with a shrug. And with this mild assurance the young man was obliged to be content.
Perry Toat had already arranged her plans. She had learnt on the previous day from Badoura, with whom she was in communication, that Madame Coralie was going to the theatre with her husband that evening. Therefore, when she arrived in Walpole Lane, she was not surprised to find the forewoman in a bad temper. This was natural, seeing that she loved Eddy Vail to such an extent that she resented his going out with his lawful wife. This was illogical; but Badoura, having been tricked into caring for the handsome scamp, was far past reason.