"You say she was cashing a draft: how was she identified?"
"She had credentials from her home bank, with her signature attested."
"Of course, she didn't surrender her letter of identification?"
"No; we don't require it when the letter is a general one and not a credit letter."
Broffin pulled thoughtfully at his drooping mustaches. He was rearranging the pieces on the mental chess-board. He had not yet asked either of the questions he had come to ask. Without knowing the science even by name, he was still enough of a psychologist to prepare the way by leading the mind of the witness cleverly over the details of its own memory picture.
"You say the hold-up made way for the lady here at the window: you saw him do it?"
"Yes."
"Did any sign of recognition pass between them—anything to make you think that they might be acquainted with each other?"
This was one of the two critical questions, and the teller took time to consider.
"It's pretty hard to tag that with a definite 'yes' or 'no,'" he said, when the memory-searching moment had passed. "He spoke to her; of that I am quite sure, though I didn't hear what he said. She nodded and smiled. She had a beautiful face, and I remember how it lighted up when he spoke and stepped back."