“I wish you would bring me a cup of hot water with a spoon in it. Have it quite hot.”
“Yes, sir, I will,” she replied, bowing demurely.
“I want to dissolve an alkali to make a chemical test.”
“Yes, sir, please you,” said Minerva, hastening to obey.
“You may go, Patterson, and you,” Nick added, addressing the others. “If you are wanted again, I will ring.”
Both withdrew, and Waldmere was about to ask a question. He caught a forbidding gleam in the detective’s eyes, however, and he said nothing.
Nick fished out part of a lozenge from his pocket, a bit of confectionery that he happened to have. He held it in the palm of his hand when Minerva returned with a cup of steaming water, containing a silver spoon.
“Hold the spoon a moment, my girl,” said Nick, taking the cup from her.
Minerva removed it without speaking.
Nick dropped the piece of lozenge into the water, then glanced up at her pretty face.