She stiffened. "Really, I can't pretend to be flattered."
"But didn't I say I felt sure you couldn't be her?" he said. "Let's talk of something else. Are you fond of shooting?"
"I have never done any," she replied in a voice of dangerous calm.
"No? It's an odd thing, but nine women out of ten would rather have nothing to do with firearms." He offered her his open cigarette case. "You occasionally find an exception to the rule. I met a girl the other day who carried a businesslike automatic about with her.. Fully loaded."
She took a cigarette from his case; her hand was quite steady. "In these days it's probably wise to carry a gun after dark," she said.
He paused in the act of striking a match. "Did I say it was after dark?" he asked, surprised.
"I assumed that it must be," she replied rather sharply. "Wasn't it?"
He held the match to the end of her cigarette. "As a matter of fact it was," he admitted.
She exhaled a long spiral of smoke and turned her head slightly so that she could survey him. "I'm trying to place you," she said. "I have a feeling you are probably a newspaper reporter."
She saw the flash of hiss teeth as he smiled. "Aren't you going to tell me why you think that?" he suggested.