what she terms Herbert’s ungodly actions. I asked her, naturally, to be more explicit, and I finally forced the admission from her that she had seen, or else believed that she had seen, the maid’s husband that afternoon loitering about the street in front of the house. She went upstairs, then, to her own quarters. It seemed absurd.”
“Then it began to prey upon you?”
“Indirectly.”
“How?”
“In its possible relation to something else.”
Lieutenant Valcour became intuitive.
“You are wondering now,” he said, “whether or not you ought to tell me all about the tea.”
“How did you establish the connection?”
“Between your having tea with Mr. Hollander yesterday afternoon and Mrs. Siddons’s story?”
“Yes.”
“It’s rather simple, isn’t it?”
“Is it?”
“Yes, Mrs. Endicott, I think it is. You won’t deny, will you, that you very definitely impressed on Mr. Hollander that your determination to ‘end it all’ either by committing suicide or killing your husband was sincere? Mr. Hollander was the confidant for your secret confusions, sort of a proving ground for reactions. I’ve already substantiated that theory, both through Mr. Hollander himself and his friend.”