“I am at your service,” he repeated.
She slowly wet her lips and gathered herself to strike, alert to watch the effects of her blow.
“I have called, Mr. Bruce,” she said with slow distinctness, “to let you know that I know that a conspiracy is under way to steal the water-works! And to let you know that I know that you are near its centre!”
He started.
“What?” he cried.
Her devouring gaze did not lose a change of feature, not so much as the shifting in the pupil of his eye.
“Oh, I know your plot!” she went on rapidly. “It’s every detail! The first step was to ruin the water-works, so the city would sell and sell cheap. The first step toward ruining the system was to get my father out of the way. And so this charge against my father was trumped up to ruin him. The leader of the whole plot is Mr. Blake; his right hand man yourself. Oh, I know every detail of your infamous scheme!”
He stared at her. His lips had slowly parted.
“What—you say that Mr. Blake——”