“Bresson killed himself last night.”
She affected not to understand him; so he repeated:
“Bresson killed himself yesterday....”
She did not show the slightest emotion; she acted as if the matter did not concern or interest her in any way.
“You have been informed,” said Sholmes, displaying his annoyance. “Otherwise, the news would have caused you to start, at least. Ah! you are stronger than I expected. But what’s the use of your trying to conceal anything from me?”
He picked up the alphabet-book, which he had placed on a convenient table, and, opening it at the mutilated page, said:
“Will you tell me the order in which the missing letters should be arranged in order to express the exact wording of the message you sent to Bresson four days before the theft of the Jewish lamp?”
“The order?... Bresson?... the theft of the Jewish lamp?”
She repeated the words slowly, as if trying to grasp their meaning. He continued:
“Yes. Here are the letters employed ... on this bit of paper.... What did you say to Bresson?”