"Quite right," she said huskily.
"Excellent," said Hamilton Beamish. "So you see, Garroway, that Mrs. Waddington's reason for being in the apartment where you found her was wholly admirable. That clears up that point."
"It doesn't clear up why she threw pepper in my face."
Hamilton Beamish nodded.
"There, Garroway," he said, "you have put your finger on the one aspect of Mrs. Waddington's behaviour which was not completely unexceptionable. As regards the pepper, you have, it seems to me, legitimate cause for pique and, indeed, solid grounds for an action for assault and battery. But Mrs. Waddington is a reasonable woman, and will, no doubt, be willing to settle this little matter in a way acceptable to all parties."
"I will pay him whatever he wants," cried the reasonable woman. "Anything, anything!"
"Hey!"
It was the voice of Sigsbee H. He stood there, forceful and dominant. His cigar had gone out, and he was chewing the dry remains aggressively.
"Say, listen!" said Sigsbee H. Waddington. "If there's any bribing of the police to be done, it's my place to do it, as the head of the family. Look me up at my little place at Hempstead to-morrow, Gallagher, and we'll have a talk. You will find me a generous man. Open-handed. Western."
"Capital," said Hamilton Beamish. "So everything is happily settled."