“Yes, there was the sequin. You said it was under the screen? Yes, I missed that. But somehow I don’t see Corole Letheny coming back for it.”
“She has likely not missed it—there are hundreds of the things on that dress.”
“Huldah was positive she hadn’t worn the dress since Thursday night? She might have left it there last night, you know.”
I shook my head.
“No. Huldah was sure. And it must have been then, for the side of the sequin that lay uppermost is all tarnished from the rain.”
“That is true. Then the question is, Who was in Room 18 last night? And what did he want?” His gray eyes were like two clear lakes.
“Miss Keate,” he said suddenly. “This radium: I’ve been hunting through encyclopedias about the stuff, but there is something I want to know. Could it be carried about in a pocket? Without burning, you know.”
“Yes, if it were in the box made for it. Radium is used in a variety of tools, for many purposes. But in this case it was in a sort of boxlike container, quite small.”
“And could be carried in a pocket or in one’s hand?” he insisted. “Or even hidden in one place or another?”
“Goodness, yes!” I replied. “I’ve seen tools containing it carried about in doctors’ bags often enough.”