"Leah," I said, "do you know how much money Miss Fielding had in the
house yesterday?"
"Forty dollars, exactly."
"Will you please find out how much of that is left, now?"
She ran up-stairs, while we waited. She returned in a few minutes with
Joy's purse.
"There's only fifteen dollars here," she said, showing the money.
"And it wasn't spent for anything you know of?"
"There's no possible way of spending it," she answered.
"Then there's twenty-five dollars to account for. Doctor Copin
undoubtedly has it. Are you in the habit of paying him cash, Joy?"
"Oh, no. Always by check, and, of course, _I_ settle all his bills;
that's understood between us. Edna can't draw any checks, anyway, for
her handwriting is quite different from mine. What could she have given
him the money for? Perhaps she didn't--how can we tell? Perhaps she
hid it somewhere."
Leah interposed. "Oh, no, Miss Joy, the purse was in your room all the
time, I'm sure."
"It may have been justified--it's barely possible," I said. "But
yesterday Edna told me that the doctor was always complaining of being
hard up. What else would he harp on that for, if not to borrow from
her? Frankly, it's my opinion that he does. You know how impressionable
and impulsive she is--any one with tact can easily manage her."
Joy stared at me. "Oh, that implies, too, considerable intimacy,
doesn't it? Much more than I have with him, at least."
"It certainly does," I replied.
She caught the inflection I put into the remark. "Do you mean--?" She
stopped suddenly.
"I mean that he is not above suspicion; that we should watch him."
"I'll never let him come down here again," she cried. "I'll dismiss
him!"
"We must go slow," I said. "We must be surer, first; and, besides, you
forget that Edna likes him."
A look of pain came to her face. "She _likes_ him?" she repeated.
"He cajoles her. She flirts with him, perhaps. At any rate, I doubt if
she'll refuse him admittance."
She rose and began to walk up and down the gravel walk. "What shall we
do? What shall we do?" she exclaimed, extending her hands toward me.
"Why, he is dangerous! Chester, I'm positively afraid, now. It's too
horrible. It's getting worse every day!"
"Tell me," I said, "why have you been telephoning to him every day or
so, Joy? You never used to, Leah says."
She looked blankly at me. "I don't know, I'm sure. It's funny, but I
never thought much about any particular message. I suppose I was simply
a little lonely and it occurred to me to ring him up, that's all."
That was enough for me, and I didn't explain the reason for my question.
She had no time to worry about it, at any rate, for just then Leah, who
had been listening silently, put in:
"Miss Joy, do you know what became of that little gold chain of yours
with the sapphire pendant? Edna wore it yesterday, but I can't find it
anywhere."
"Maybe it's up in my room somewhere," Joy answered, still walking up and
down the path. Then suddenly stopping she faced me.
"Oh! Do you suppose she could have given _that_ to the doctor, too?"
she exclaimed.
I laughed. "No, she gave that to me to keep for her," I said, and I
drew it forth from my vest pocket where it had remained since the little
scene behind the stable.
Joy's eyes had followed my hand and fixed on the chain as I held it out.
Her lips opened with a swift intake of air as she gazed. The two
vertical lines appeared in her forehead. She put out a hand
tentatively, but did not touch the ornament. It was as if she were in a
trance. Then her lips moved automatically.
"_Keep it--safe--for me, please!_" she whispered. Suddenly her hand
went to her forehead. "Oh, what _was_ it?" she cried.
"Try to recall the rest!" I commanded, watching her sharply.
She thought a moment, then shook her head decidedly. "No, it's gone
now," she said.
"You can get nothing more?" was my suggestion.
"Nothing. It was like a dream, like something I had done and said
before. What does it mean--do you know?"
"It's precisely what you did say--what Edna said, that is--yesterday."
For some time she was too bewildered to speak, and stood staring at
me--through me. "You mean that Edna said what I've just said!" she
asked.
"Yes." I handed the chain to her.
She put it away with a sharp gesture. "Oh, no! If she gave it to you,
keep it! I have no right--" She turned away.
"But it was only to keep till we got home," I explained.
She looked at me keenly and threw back her shoulders proudly. "No, it
wasn't. She meant you to have it."
"You remember it, then?"