“Not at all. There was no hypnotism about it.�
“Then what?�
“What I have already called it—fascination. The compelling force of a style and type of beauty which no man among them has ever seen before; the——â€�
“Nor any other man,� interpolated the lawyer.
“The grace, strength, and the ferocity of a tigress molded into the form of a woman,� the detective continued, as if he had not been interrupted.
The lawyer slapped his thigh with emphasis.
“You struck the keynote there, Nick!� he exclaimed. “The grace, strength, and ferocity of a tigress. I often wondered, during the trial, what her eyes reminded me of. I know now, for I have seen the same sort of eyes through the bars of cages at the Bronx Zoo; great, sleepy, tawny eyes, that peer out at one so mildly and half drowsily, and almost unseeingly, but into which a veritable living flame may leap at any instant, burning, consuming, destroying. She doesn’t like you, Nick.�
“No; evidently not.�
“I saw that glance she gave you as she passed out. I am rather glad it wasn’t directed at me.�
“Why?�