“Before I go,” said he, “I should like to inquire what word of Mrs. Winchester led you to the conclusion that the theft was committed by some one in the house?”
“Wait,” cried I, “you are going too fast; I do not say the theft was committed by some one in the house. I merely speak of an accomplice.”
“Who flung the diamonds out of the window——”
“Or merely gave the signal that they were accessible, and for the moment unguarded.”
“Let us not waste time,” he exclaimed. “I want to know what Mrs. Winchester said——”
“She said nothing,” I interrupted, for my haste was as great as his; “that is, nothing beyond the necessary relation of the facts——”
“That the jewels were lying open in their case on the bureau; that you called her from below; and that she hastened to respond by her presence; was gone five minutes or so, and, returning, found the window open and the diamonds gone. As she had left the window shut, she naturally sprang to it and looked out, in time to see two men hurrying down the street. Surely these facts you know as well as I.”
“I was curious,” he replied. “So those are the facts you received, and it is from them alone you gathered the conclusion you have stated?”
“I know, but she did not need to speak. I heard her heart beat, if I may so express myself, and from its beatings came the conviction I have given you.”
Mr. Winchester bestowed upon me an approving smile.
“You are all I thought you,” was his comment. “Philippa’s heart did beat, and with most unwonted emotions, too. Philippa saw the person who relieved Mrs. Winchester of her jewels.”
He did not wait to hear the end of my remonstrance. “I say so,” he went on, “because while Mrs. Winchester was here, and before she ascended, I saw Philippa go up. She had just time to reach the head of the stairs, when the person whose step I had already detected crossing the floor above, gained the hall——”
“Yes. Can it be you really allowed yourself to dream for a moment that the thief who stole this small fortune came in by the window?”
“Mr. Winchester,” said I, “when I left the police station it was with some doubt, I confess, as to whether this theft had been committed in just the way the man who brought your note said it had been. But after hearing what Mrs. Winchester had to say——”