“By the bye, Mr. Jessup,” he asked carelessly, “were you yourself, by any chance, a bit fascinated—let us say—by the charming Miss Odell?”
For the first time since entering the room the man appeared ill at ease. A dull flush overspread his cheeks.
“I thought she was a very beautiful lady,” he answered resolutely.
Markham gave Vance a look of disapproval, and then addressed himself abruptly to the operator.
“That will be all for the moment, Jessup.”
The man bowed stiffly and limped out.
“This case is becoming positively fascinatin’,” murmured Vance, relaxing once more upon the davenport.
“It’s comforting to know that some one’s enjoying it.” Markham’s tone was irritable. “And what, may I ask, was the object of your question concerning Jessup’s sentiments toward the dead woman?”
“Oh, just a vagrant notion struggling in my brain,” returned Vance. “And then, y’ know, a bit of boudoir racontage always enlivens a situation, what?”
Heath, rousing himself from gloomy abstraction, spoke up.