I was surprised, but Ruth said calmly, "I don't know her, Mr. McKelvie."
"But you know who she is," he returned, smiling.
"Will it help you?"
"Very much."
"She's Lee Darwin's fiancée. I have never met her, but one day he confided in me and showed me her picture. She is a very beautiful and noble girl, so please don't drag her into this inquiry, for whatever Phil's motives in leaving his money to her, I am sure that she is innocent of any knowledge of his actions," she pleaded.
"I won't bring her into it unless it's absolutely necessary," he replied.
"Are you a mind-reader?" I inquired as we walked slowly across the courtyard to the men's building and so out into the street.
"Not that I'm aware of," he replied seriously. "What makes you ask?"
"I'd have sworn that Ruth had never even heard of Cora Manning," I said.
"That's because you hear and see without observing," he explained. "I read what you heard: namely, that Coroner Graves, dissatisfied with Mrs. Darwin's first answer, asked her again if she knew Cora Manning. The inference was plain. She knew or knew of this girl and hesitated to say no or yes. By the time the coroner repeated his question she had made up her mind."