“Notice the way she keeps her left arm rigidly at her side. She’s holding something under that long tweed coat. I happen to know the store detective. I was in court once when he was testifying on a case... Notice the way the woman’s turned her head. I believe she knows she’s being followed.”
“Will she sit down and start eating?” Della asked, her eyes wide with interest.
“Probably not. She must have quite a bit of stuff concealed under her coat. It would be difficult to eat without... There she goes into the restroom.”
“Now what?” Della Street asked.
“If she’s wise she’s being followed,” Mason said, “she’ll probably ditch the stuff in the restroom... There’s the store detective going over to talk with the colored maid. They’ll try to handle the thing very quietly.”
“I can’t imagine her being a shoplifter,” Della Street protested. “That white hair, the high forehead, the calm, steady eyes, and the sensitive mouth... it just is impossible.”
Mason said thoughtfully, “My experience has taught me that when a person with an honest face has stolen goods in his possession, the face is usually a mask, carefully cultivated as a stock in trade.”
Their waitress brought them steaming, fragrant soup. The maid appeared in the door of the restroom and nodded briefly to the store detective. A moment later, the white-haired woman emerged and walked directly to an adjoining table, which had been set for two, with bread, butter, water glasses, knives and forks in place. She calmly seated herself.
Mason heard an exclamation at his elbow. “Oh, there you are, Aunt Sarah. I lost you.” The lawyer looked up, to see a tallish young woman who moved with quick decision. As he glimpsed her moist gray eyes, his courtroom experience told him there was fear in her voice. The white-haired woman’s voice, on the other hand, showed no fear, only calm poise. “I lost you somewhere in the crowd, Ginny, so I decided I’d come up and have a cup of tea. At my age, I’ve found it never pays to worry. I knew you were perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, calling a cab and going home.”
“But I didn’t know about you,” the girl said, seating herself with a nervous laugh, high-pitched with apprehension. “I wasn’t certain you were all right, Aunt Sarah.”