“How did Jimmy happen to come there to tell you he loved you, and where was Rosalind?”
“Well,” she said, drying the last of her tears, “Walter found Jimmy’s letter and started making an awful scene. He went to see his lawyer and Rossy was afraid he was going to do something terrible. He’d threatened to kill her, and Rossy thought he might do it. She wanted to leave right away. So she ran out of the house and was afraid to go back.”
“What time was that?”
“I don’t know exactly what time. It was early this morning, around nine or ten o’clock, I think. Well, anyway, a little after eleven, Rossy telephoned me and told me what had happened, and asked me to go over to the house and pack up her clothes in her wardrobe trunk and a couple of suitcases which were in the closet of her bedroom. You see, her house is over at 1396 Alsace Avenue. Walter bought it just before they were married. It’s only a couple of blocks from where I live.”
“You have a key to the house?” Mason asked.
She shook her head.
“How did you get in, then?”
“Oh,” she said, “Rossy just ran out and left the doors unlocked. Walter said he was going to kill her, and she was frightened.”
“And the canary?” Mason asked.
“It’s her canary. She’s had it for years. She wanted me to keep it for her. Walter would have killed it just out of spite. That’s how mean he is. He’ll be simply furious when he returns and finds her gone.”