“No, no; about the girl who lost it.”
“Miss Brown?”
The detective did not reply. She had run her hand through the hole in the pocket and was now searching the corners between the lining and the cloth.
“Ha!” she cried at last, exactly like the detective in a play. “Here it is!”
With a swift movement she extricated her hand from the bottomless pocket and displayed between her thumb and forefinger a large emerald ring.
“Why, that’s the ring of my cousin, Judith Blount!” exclaimed the Professor in amazement. “And I have had it in my pocket all this time. Great heavens! what an extraordinary thing, and how did it get there?”
“Miss Blount forced Miss Brown to take charge of it while she was playing football. After Miss Brown came to from her faint, she must have been very cold and slipped her hands in the pockets of this coat for warmth——”
“She did,” confirmed the Professor.
“And the ring slipped off. When she found it was lost she got up at dawn next day and went out in her slippers in the snow to find it, and nearly caught her death. But she’s had no thanks for her trouble from your relation, I can assure you. Nothing but abuse——”
“What!” shouted the Professor. “You mean to say that Judith has dared to insinuate——”