CHAPTER XXXIII
THE MURDER
At half past one that afternoon a messenger appeared at Grandoken’s with a letter for Jinnie.
Peggy called the girl to the shop.
“Boy’s got something for you,” she declared. “It’s a letter, I guess.”
Jinnie held out her hand with thumping pulses, took the extended pencil, and signed her name to a blank page. Then the boy held out the missive. Of course it was from Theodore, thought Jinnie. She had scarcely slept the night before, fitfully dreaming of him. Throwing a shy smile at Peg, she went into her bedroom and shut the door. With a long, ecstatic breath, she set herself to the delightful task of slowly perusing the beloved epistle.
“My darling,” Jinnie read, and she kissed those two words, each one separately. Then she whispered them again, “My darling,” and read on:
“I’m coming this afternoon at three to see your uncle, and I thought you might like me to talk with him alone. It will be a simple matter for you to take the little blind boy and go away for an hour or so, but be sure and return at four. By that time I’ll have our arrangements all made, but I won’t go until I see you.