“Yes; I can swear to it.”
Richards sped to the closet door and flung it open. Only wearing apparel rewarded his search. A glance at the windows showed that they were closed and locked on the inside, the bathroom and dressing room beyond were empty! Convinced of that, he turned back to Judith who had sunk into the chair before the dressing table.
“Was any one with you in this room?” he asked.
“No, I was alone.” Judith passed her hand dazedly before her eyes, then again inspected the empty box. “Every piece of jewelry is gone,” she stated, “and the box was full two hours ago.”
“Are you sure, Judith?”
“Absolutely certain—the jewelry was stolen within the last two hours.”
Richards looked first at her and then at the empty box.
“How can that be?” he asked. “There is no entrance to this bedroom except through the boudoir—and you and I, Judith, have been in the boudoir for the past two hours.”
CHAPTER XIII
“MIZPAH”
Detective Ferguson completed his tour of the suite of three rooms and bath which Judith and her husband occupied and took up his station in the boudoir. At Richards’ earnest solicitation she had notified Police Headquarters of the robbery and Ferguson had been detailed to investigate it. He was followed into the room an instant later by Judith who watched him inspect her empty jewelry box with the aid of a magnifying glass. Quickly he made his test for finger prints, but she judged from the negative shake of his head and his puzzled frown that the results were barren.