The query was drawn from the detective by a sudden start on the part of Maria when he mentioned the Blue Mummy. "What do you know about it, miss?" he asked brusquely.
"About--about what?" she said nervously.
Ever confident in the power of a surprise to extort the truth, by unexpectedly startling the nerves. Torry drew the Blue Mummy, which he always carried with him, from his pocket, and tossed it lightly into the lap of Maria. "About that," he said abruptly.
The girl gave a faint cry, and looked down into her lap as though a snake were coiled in it, then quietly swooned away.
"Ah!" said Torry unmoved, "a guilty conscience!"
"You brute!" cried Darrel, starting to his feet, "don't you see the poor girl has fainted? Ring the bell? call the servants."
"Do neither," shouted the detective savagely; "Leave the matter to me. Get water out of that vase of flowers, and sprinkle it on her face. I have smelling salts here, which I always carry for cases of this kind. Oh, it is not the first time I have seen ladies faint when brought into contact with the law."
"What do you mean?" asked Darrel angrily, as he sprinkled the white face with water.
"I mean," said Torry, holding a bottle under Maria's nostrils, "That we shall have some strange revelations when this lady recovers."
"She is recovering now," cried Frank eagerly, "Thank God."