"That's number seven," said Viner. "And--those are the two ladies."
The Inspector stopped and watched. The door of the house opened, letting
a further flood of light on the broad step beneath the portico and on
the pavement beyond; the door of the car opened too, and a girl stepped
out, and for a second or two stood in the full glare of the lamps. She
was a slender, lissome young creature, gowned in white, and muffled to
the throat in an opera cloak out of which a fresh, girlish face, bright
in colour, sparkling of eye, crowned by a mass of hair of the tint of
dead gold, showed clearly ere she rapidly crossed to the open door.
After her came an elderly, well-preserved woman in an elaborate evening
toilette, the personification of the precise and conventional chaperon.
The door closed; the car drove away; the Inspector turned to Viner with
a shake of his head.
"Just home from the theatre!" he said. "And--to hear this! Well, it's got
to be done, Mr. Viner, anyhow."
Viner, who had often observed the girl whom they had just seen with an
interest for which he had never troubled to account, found himself
wishing that Miss Penkridge was there in his place.
Pages:
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34