come for. They seemed to know all about it and about us. They called us by name, and taunted us with threats of the story they would tell if we had them arrested.
“We couldn’t do anything after they had gone. It was a ridiculously hopeless plight they had put us in. There wasn’t anything we could do—since we couldn’t possibly replace the money. Jeffrey couldn’t even pretend he had lost it or had been robbed of it while he was alone. His secret early return to San Francisco would have been sure to throw suspicion on him. Jeffrey lost his head. He wanted me to run away with him. Then he wanted to go to my husband and tell him the truth. I wouldn’t permit either course—they were equally foolish.
“We left the apartment, separating, a little after seven. We weren’t, the truth is, on the best of terms by then. He wasn’t—now that we were in trouble—as—No, I shouldn’t say that.”
She stopped and stood looking at me with a placid doll’s face that seemed to have got rid of all its troubles by simply passing them to me.
“The pictures I showed you are the two men?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“This maid of yours knew about you and Main? Knew about the apartment? Knew about his trip to Los Angeles and his plan to return early with the cash?”
“I can’t say she did. But she certainly could have learned most of it by spying and eavesdropping and looking through my—I had a note from Jeffrey telling me about the Los Angeles trip, making the appointment for Sunday morning. Perhaps she could have seen it. I’m careless.”
“I’m going now,” I said. “Sit tight till you hear from me. And don’t scare up the maid.”