“In—a dinner jacket, I think—and slicker. It was raining, you know.”
“Miss Day, have you lately lost a cuff link?” asked the coroner, without warning.
I was watching Maida closely and saw the little flush that had been in her face drain steadily away; her eyes darkened but did not falter in their steadfast gaze.
“Yes,” she replied quietly.
“Is this it?” He placed a small object in her hand that I could not see but had no doubt was the square of lapis.
“It—seems to be,” she said, after a pause during which we others scarcely breathed. “It resembles the one I lost.”
“Do you think you can say that it is your cuff link?” asked the coroner smoothly.
“Why—yes. At least, it is identical with mine.”
“Can you explain its presence in Dr. Letheny’s coat pocket when he was found—dead?”
“No,” said Maida steadily, her steel-blue eyes meeting the coroner’s directly.