“Yes—what then?” Sheriff Trenholm could not restrain his impatience at her slow speech.
“The clergyman had just completed the marriage service.”
Her words created a sensation. Doctor Roberts’ eyes fairly started from his head, and Alan Mason’s excited ejaculation drowned Dixon’s more softly spoken exclamation. Only Guy Trenholm gave no voice to his feelings. With eyes fixed steadfastly upon Betty, he remained as emotionless apparently as she.
“What transpired next?” inquired Dixon.
“They left,” tersely. Miriam’s heart was beating quickly, and her cold fingers were playing a devil’s tattoo on the arm of her chair. Before she could say more, Betty leaned forward and held up her hand.
“Just a moment!” She spoke slowly, distinctly. “What were you, a trained nurse, doing when your patient was stabbed to death?”
Miriam whitened, but faced her questioner with quiet courage.
“I was lying near the bed unconscious,” she admitted, “having been chloroformed.”
Betty rose to her feet. “I have heard that a person under the influence of chloroform or ether is subject to hallucinations,” she said. “I prefer to believe that than to think you are demented.”
“Demented!” Miriam sprang up, her eyes flashing with indignation.