us.”
The girl spoke sullenly, almost disagreeably. It was clear as daylight that she and her mother had not agreed over the matter. She was here under protest.
“I see,” said Tommy, a little puzzled. “You have not called in the police?”
“No,” said Miss Kingston Bruce, “we haven’t. It would be idiotic to call in the police and then find that the silly thing had rolled under the fireplace, or something like that.”
“Oh!” said Tommy. “Then the jewel may only be lost after all?”
Miss Kingston Bruce shrugged her shoulders.
“People make such a fuss about things,” she murmured.
Tommy cleared his throat.
“Of course,” he said doubtfully. “I am extremely busy just now—”
“I