"It must have been done before the company closed its engagement."
"No doubt," admitted Nick. "Then Cervera was too crafty to use it at once. She waited nearly a week. Then she dressed herself in cheap attire, put on a thick veil, and lay in wait for her rival's maid and companion, to whom she gave the package and her instructions regarding it."
"What first led you to suspect the crime and the means, Nick?" inquired Chick, curiously.
"Several facts," explained Nick. "The girl's sudden death seemed peculiar. The jewel casket beside her was empty, at once suggesting that something had been removed or fallen from it. Yet nothing was to be found."
"That's true."
"The paper wrapper was punctured with a pin in many places, the holes running even through the lining of the casket. That fact, too, was suggestive. People are not in the habit of doing up parcels and then punching them full of holes with a pin."
"Well, hardly."
"Cervera made those holes, Chick, in order that her venomous captive might not expire for want of air."
"No doubt of it, Nick. But what do you think led Mary Barton to open the package after having been told not to do so?"
"Curiosity, perhaps," replied Nick. "Or possibly she considered the circumstances to be so strange that she felt that she had a right to open it. Be that as it may, it is plain that Mary Barton sat down on the park seat, after leaving Boyden and there briefly considered the matter."