A new clue to work on. Better luck to-morrow."
And heartsick we would put up the receiver and sit down again to
our vigil.
The inaction was deadly. Liddy cried all day, and, because she
knew I objected to tears, sniffled audibly around the corner.
"For Heaven's sake, smile!" I snapped at her. And her ghastly
attempt at a grin, with her swollen nose and red eyes, made me
hysterical. I laughed and cried together, and pretty soon, like
the two old fools we were, we were sitting together weeping into
the same handkerchief.
Things were happening, of course, all the time, but they made
little or no impression. The Charity Hospital called up Doctor
Stewart and reported that Mrs. Watson was in a critical
condition. I understood also that legal steps were being taken
to terminate my lease at Sunnyside. Louise was out of danger,
but very ill, and a trained nurse guarded her like a gorgon.
There was a rumor in the village, brought up by Liddy from the
butcher's, that a wedding had already taken place between Louise
and Doctor Walkers and this roused me for the first time to
action.
On Tuesday, then, I sent for the car, and prepared to go out. As
I waited at the porte-cochere I saw the under-gardener, an
inoffensive, grayish-haired man, trimming borders near the house.
The day detective was watching him, sitting on the carriage
block. When he saw me, he got up.
"Miss Innes," he said, taking of his hat, "do you know where
Alex, the gardener, is?"
"Why, no.
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