“I am sure of it,” replied the maid. “Oh, what shall I do? It means ruin to lose that hand bag now!”
“You can buy another,” said the girl stupidly.
“But the contents!” cried the maid. “I can’t replace them!”
“Shall I go to Anton’s room and see if he is there?” asked the girl.
“Yes—no! Oh, what shall I do? Perhaps I had better go myself.”
Bernice moved away, followed by the servant, and Nick opened the kitchen door again, and entered. He followed the girls through the dining room into a hall from which ran the stairs connecting with the servants’ hall on the second floor.
Bernice mounted the stairs and soon stood at the door which opened into the main hall, which ran in front of the room where the murder had been committed.
“I can’t bear to go in there,” Nick heard her whisper.
“The body is not there,” said the servant. “It is in the large room back of the library, and the watchers are there with it.”