"These tassels, as you perhaps know, are usually made of round bits of wood, enclosed in a covering of knitted silk. The girl removed one of the wooden balls, and having embedded the ring in a ball of black sealing wax, put it in place of the wooden one. It was a most ingenious hiding place, and one extremely unlikely to be discovered."
"How did you happen to discover it, Mr. Duvall?" Mrs. Morton asked.
"In this way. When my wife called my attention to the spots of black wax on the tray of the candlestick, I saw at once that a far larger amount of the wax had been melted than would have been required in making an ordinary seal. The impressions on the warnings the woman sent were very small and flat, so as to readily be inserted in the envelopes containing the letters without being bulky, or becoming broken while passing through the mails. But here were spots of the wax that had dripped down as large as a silver quarter and larger. What, I wondered, had caused the woman to melt so large a quantity of wax?
"I attempted to put myself in her place and to think what she would do to hide the seal ring. The idea of embedding it in a ball of the wax occurred to me. But, having done this, what would she do with the ball? It was not an easy thing to hide; in her purse, her satchel, it would have attracted attention at once. Then I noticed the round black ornaments hanging from her umbrella, with their silken cords and tassels. What better place to hide the ball of wax?
"In order to test my theory, I twice attempted to take the umbrella from her on our way here, as though to relieve her of the trouble of carrying it. In both instances she drew back at once, and refused to allow the umbrella to leave her possession. This action on her part convinced me that my guess had been a correct one. The subsequent finding of the ring broke down her assurance. As you know, she has made a complete confession."
"Poor woman," Ruth Morton remarked. "What are you going to do with her?"
"That rests with you, Miss Morton. If you decide to prosecute you can readily do so. The penalty for sending threatening letters through the mails is not a light one. And her attack upon you, under the circumstances, is a very serious matter indeed."