My analysis was interrupted by the return of McCann.
He said, laconically: "Well, we put it over."
I asked. "McCann-you weren't by any chance telling the truth when you said you found the doll?"
"No, Doc. The doll was gone all right."
"But where did you get the little books?"
"Just where Mollie said the doll tossed 'em-on her dressing table. I snaked 'em after she'd told me her
story. She hadn't noticed 'em. I had a hunch. It was a good one, wasn't it?"
"You had me wondering," I replied. "I don't know what we could have said if she had asked for the
knotted cord."
"The cord didn't seem to make much of a dent on her-" He hesitated. "But I think it means a hell of a lot,