There was real, poignant anguish in her cry. I turned and confronted her. Her lashes were all wet with tears.
“What! has he disappeared?”
She nodded, fought with her emotion a moment, and went on unsteadily,
“I want you to help me to find him for in finding him we shall find Hassan!”
“How so?”
Her gaze avoided me now.
“Mr. Cavanagh, he has staked everything upon securing the slipper—and the Hashishin were too clever for him. His hand—those Eastern fiends cut off his hand! But he would not give in. He made another bid—and lost again. It left him almost penniless.”
She spoke of Earl Dexter’s felonious plans as another woman might have spoken of her husband’s unwise investments! It was fantastic hearing that confession of The Stetson Man’s beautiful partner, and I counted the interview one of the strangest I had ever known.
A sudden idea came to me. “When did Dexter first conceive the plan to steal the slipper?” I asked.
“In Egypt!” answered Carneta. “Yes! You may as well know! He is thoroughly familiar with the East, and he learned of the robbery of Professor Deeping almost as soon as it became known to Hassan. I know what you are going to ask—”