“Then she’ll never hear about it. Haven’t you any theory as to how the effigy got into the house?”
“No,” Lorinda replied, after a slight hesitation.
“Would your stepfather have had a hand in it?”
“Oh, I don’t think so! It would be such a vicious, wicked thing to do!”
“He and your mother always got on well together?”
“No, they had frequent disagreements,” Lorinda admitted, squirming uncomfortably. “All the same, my stepfather was not a cruel man.”
“Do you have utter confidence in Antón and Celeste?”
“They have been fairly efficient servants. Mother always has treated them well. What reason could they have for hating her?”
“I’m sure I can’t see any. Yet someone brought the doll into the house after carving it in your mother’s image.” Penny thought a moment, and then asked: “Could the Zudi drum have anything to do with it?”
“That angle occurred to me,” Lorinda nodded. “From the first, I’ve been afraid that natives would trail my stepfather here and try to revenge themselves upon him for taking the drum.”