“How do you know about the feet and hands?” asked the young man.
“The woman slopped water from the bowl as she washed,” was the reply, “and it fell on the carpet and over her shoes. See, the spot where this foot stood is dry; the carpet is wet, and the dry spot represents a very small shoe.”
“We started in with a dark-complexioned male murderer,” said Maynard, “and now we have come to a fair-faced woman with red hair, and clothes made in Paris.”
“You asked me a moment ago,” said Nick, “if I thought this woman came across the Atlantic in quest of these diamonds, and I made no reply. Now, I can tell you that it is possible that she did, and that she did not come alone.”
“A conspiracy for robbery?”
“That is about the size of it, as it looks now.”
“Do you think this affair in any way connected with the former larceny of the diamonds, when they were followed from South Africa?”
“There is little doubt of it,” was the reply. “Who was with you to-night besides the dead man?”
“Why, I was at rehearsal, as I told you at first. That is the way the diamonds came to be with me. They were to be used in the play, you know.”
“And the members of the club knew that you had them with you?”