“Cuckoo,” confided O’Brian to Hansen as, with Stump and McGinnis, they filed out.
“Cuckoo as a fox,” agreed Hansen, who had worked under Lieutenant Valcour on a case before.
“Yeh?”
“Yeah.”
Lieutenant Valcour and young Cassidy were alone.
“Tell me, Cassidy, how are the servants taking all this, if you bumped into any of them?”
“Sure, I only saw the girl at the front door, Lieutenant. She’s a sorry piece, and was shivering worse than one of them new and indecent dances.”
“Did she say anything?”
“She did not, beyond telling us to follow her upstairs. She took us to that door across the hallway first, and some lady said you was in here.”
“How did that lady’s voice sound to you, Cassidy?”
“Smooth, sir.”
“Not nervous?”
“Devil a bit.”
“What are you looking for, Cassidy?”
“The corpse, sir.”
“It’s in that cupboard.”