She entered the room first. Her face was pale with anxiety. Her manner and expression were those of a woman who was very much in earnest. Her hat, a severe garment of grey felt adorned with a single bow of black ribbon, was pushed to one side of her head. Her hair, hurriedly pinned into place early in the morning, was untidy. She looked as if she had been working so hard as to have had scant leisure for attention to the details of her toilet. Mrs. Dick followed her. She was tremulous and showed signs of having wept frequently and bitterly during the earlier part of the day. Mrs. Sanders, a sallow, lean woman of about five and thirty, seemed frightened and bewildered.
“I hope,” said Miss Farquharson, “that we are not intruding on you. Our business is really very important. That must be our excuse.”
“Not in the least,” said Lord Manton. “We are delighted to see you. As a matter of fact, you couldn’t have come at a more appropriate moment. Miss Blow is just—but won’t you sit down? You’ll be much more comfortable sitting down.”
He pulled a chair forward towards Mrs. Dick, who collapsed into it and took out her pocket-handkerchief. Mrs. Sanders perched herself uncomfortably on a corner of the sofa. Miss Farquharson sat upright in the writing-chair which stood in front of Lord Manton’s desk.
“Miss Blow,” said Lord Manton, “is just going to tell us the name of the man who has murdered your husbands.”
Mrs. Dick gave a queer cry, half wail, half whoop, a loud cry, ending in a gasp.
“Murdered;” she cried. “Murdered! Oh, no, no, not murdered!”
“Certainly not murdered,” said Lord Manton. “That’s only what Miss Blow says. I don’t believe they’re murdered. Neither does Mr. Goddard, and if anybody knows the ins and outs of this unfortunate business it’s Mr. Goddard. He’s a policeman, the chief policeman of this district. It stands to reason that he must know. Don’t be the least uneasy, ladies. There’s no necessity for tears. Nobody is murdered.”
Mrs. Dick allowed herself to be a little comforted by this strong assurance. She stopped making any very loud noise and let her crying subside into a subdued and inoffensive whimper. On the other hand, Miss Blow was evidently enraged by Lord Manton’s scepticism. Her voice, when she spoke, sounded defiant and extremely angry.