“Very little, sir—the connection was not good. She said merely that she had no intention of returning to New York for a considerable time and needed more clothes than she had taken with her.”
“Did she ask how things were going at the house here?”
“Only in the most casual way, sir.”
“Then she didn’t seem apprehensive about what might happen here while she was away?”
“No, sir. In fact—if I may say so without disloyalty—her tone of voice was quite indifferent, sir.”
“Judging from her remarks about the trunk, how long would you say she intends to be away?”
Sproot considered the matter.
“That’s difficult to say, sir. But I would go so far as to venture the opinion that Miss Sibella intends to remain in Atlantic City for a month or more.”
Vance nodded with satisfaction.
“And now, Sproot,” he said, “I have a particularly important question to ask you. When you first went into Miss Ada’s room on the night she was shot and found her on the floor before the dressing-table, was the window open? Think! I want a positive answer. You know the window is just beside the dressing-table and overlooks the steps leading to the stone balcony. Was it open or shut?”