“True,” he said shrewdly. Then, with his eyes fixed upon the carpet, he suddenly exclaimed, “Ah! what’s this?” and bending, picked up something which he placed in the hollow of his hand, exposing it to my view.
It was a purely feminine object. A tiny pearl button from a woman’s glove.
“A lady’s been here recently, that’s very evident. We must find out who she was.”
“A lady!” I gasped, wondering in an instant whether Aline had called upon him.
“The outer door is open all day, I think you said,” he went on.
“Yes.”
“In that case it is probable that if she came during this man Ash’s absence, nobody would see her.”
“Very probably,” I said. “We can only wait until Ash returns.”
“But it’s already half an hour since you made the discovery, and nearly an hour since the gentleman died; yet the man has not returned,” the detective observed dubiously.
At that moment we heard a footstep on the stair, but instead of the dead man’s valet, an inspector in uniform entered. The detective briefly explained the circumstances in a dry, business-like tone, the inspector walked through the rooms with his hands behind his back, and after a survey of the place, and a promise to send some men to remove the body to the mortuary, left again.