“And you, Nan, do you observe none?” asked Nick.
“No,” she replied. “What do you mean, Mr. Carter?”
He did not reply to her. He turned again to Mrs. Remsen.
“Madam,” he said, “I have observed, since I have been a guest in your home, that you are evidently a collector of rare vases. Is that true?”
“Oh, yes; it has always been a hobby with me. But what——”
“In every room that I have entered, there are several, but in no case have I noticed two that are exactly alike. Will you tell me if you have two vases that are precisely alike, now in your possession?”
“Why, yes, now that you speak of it, there are two. But——”
“Pardon me, but will you tell me where those two vases are, now? Is one of them in this room? Don’t squirm, Jimmy. We’re getting warm, I know, but please remember that you are not to interrupt unless you want a gag in your mouth. Madam, is one of the vases, of which you have two alike, now in this room?”
“Yes.” Mrs. Remsen pointed toward a vase that stood upon a bracket in one corner of the room. “That one, there.”