“A great deal. Lady Mae always watches us at archery practice—why I don’t know. I’m sure it pains her to see us, for Adolph isn’t strong enough to shoot. He’s tried it several times, but it tired him so he had to give it up.”
“She may watch you practising for the very reason that it does torture her—a kind of self-immolation, y’ know. Those situations are very distressing.” Vance spoke almost with tenderness—which, to one who did not know his real nature, would have sounded strange. “Perhaps,” he added, as we emerged into the archery range through the basement door, “it would be best if we saw Mrs. Drukker first for a moment. It might tend to allay any apprehensions our visit might cause her. Could we reach her room without Mr. Drukker’s knowledge?”
“Oh, yes.” The girl was pleased at the idea. “We can go in the rear way. Adolph’s study, where he does his writing, is at the front of the house.”
We found Mrs. Drukker sitting in the great bay window on a sprawling old-fashioned chaise-longue, propped up with pillows. Miss Dillard greeted her filially and, bending over her with tender concern, kissed her forehead.
“Something rather awful has happened at our house this morning, Lady Mae,” she said; “and these gentlemen wanted to see you. I offered to bring them over. You don’t mind, do you?”
Mrs. Drukker’s pale, tragic face had been turned away from the door as we entered, but now she stared at us with fixed horror. She was a tall woman, slender to the point of emaciation; and her hands, which lay slightly flexed on the arms of the chair, were sinewy and wrinkled like the talons of fabulous bird-women. Her face, too, was thin and deeply seamed; but it was not an unattractive face. The eyes were clear and alive, and the nose was straight and dominant. Though she must have been well past sixty, her hair was luxuriant and brown.
For several minutes she neither moved nor spoke. Then her hands closed slowly, and her lips parted.
“What do you want?” she asked in a low resonant voice.
“Mrs. Drukker,”—it was Vance who answered—“as Miss Dillard has told you, a tragedy occurred next door this morning, and since your window is the only one directly overlooking the archery range, we thought that you might have seen something that would aid us in our investigation.”
The woman’s vigilance relaxed perceptibly, but it was a moment or two before she spoke.