“Quite so,” agreed Vance consolingly. “But tell me: did it not shock you to see such a quiet, sweet-looking young lady smoking cigarettes?”
Her apprehension gave way to astonishment.
“Why—yes, sir, it did. . . . But she wasn’t a bad girl—I could tell that. And most girls smoke nowadays. They don’t think anything of it, like they used to.”
“You’re quite right,” Vance assured her. “Still, young ladies really shouldn’t throw their cigarettes in tiled, gas-log fireplaces, should they, now?”
The woman regarded him uncertainly; she suspected him of jesting.
“Did she do that?” She leaned over and looked into the fireplace. “I didn’t see any cigarettes there this morning.”
“No, you wouldn’t have,” Vance informed her. “One of the District Attorney’s sleuths, d’ ye see, cleaned it all up nicely for you yesterday.”
She shot Markham a questioning glance. She was not sure whether Vance’s remark was to be taken seriously; but his casualness of manner and pleasantness of voice tended to put her at ease.
“Now that we understand each other, Mrs. Platz,” he was saying, “was there anything else you particularly noticed when the young lady was here? You will be doing her a good service by telling us, because both the District Attorney and I happen to know she is innocent.”
She gave Vance a long shrewd look, as if appraising his sincerity. Evidently the results of her scrutiny were favorable, for her answer left no doubt as to her complete frankness.