“What do you mean?”
“I thought,” Mason said, “that it was well within the bounds of possibility that someone would try to kill the parrot at your house. If you were there and heard the intruder... Well, whoever killed that parrot had already committed one murder. One more or less wouldn’t have made a great deal of difference.”
“But how did you know someone was going to try and kill the parrot?”
“It was just a hunch,” Mason said. “... Think you can go through with it tonight?”
“I’ll try,” she promised.
“All right,” Mason told her. “Let’s cheer up; let’s get this feeling of hopelessness completely licked.”
“I’ll try to stick out my chin and take it,” she told him. “Just a few days ago I thought I was the happiest woman in the world. Now, if I dared to let myself start sympathizing with myself, I’d feel I was the most miserable. It’s quite a comedown.”
“I know it is,” Mason sympathized.
“I’ve lost the man I loved, and I’m accused of murder on top of that.”
“That accusation isn’t going to last very long,” Mason said.