The Listening Eye

She was putting back a volume with rather a charming engraving of Joa

Miss Silver smiled.

“You are looking at the old books, Miss Foster?”

Sally said, “Yes,” and with the spoken word the past receded and the trouble in her thought was back upon her.

Miss Silver came up to her and put a hand on her arm.

“One ca

“Are we going to talk?”

She received an encouraging smile.

“Oh, yes, my dear, I think so. These chairs are shabby but comfortable.”

It was not until they were seated that she went on, and not then until she had taken a half-finished baby’s bootee out of the flowered bag and begun to knit, her hands held low in her lap, her eyes fixed on Sally’s face in the kindest and most attentive ma

“I should like to talk to you about the return of Mr. Bellingdon’s diamond necklace.”

If Sally was startled, it was because she had a rather horrid feeling that the ground had opened in front of her, and that perhaps everything was going to begin sliding again. She said,

“You want to talk to me?”

Miss Silver coughed.

“I should like to ask you why the return of the necklace alarmed you so much.”

“Alarmed me?”

Listening to her own faltering words, Sally thought they were enough to make anyone think that she had stolen the necklace herself.

Miss Silver was knitting briskly.

“You were so much alarmed that you were ready to faint. Mr. Moray noticed it and brought you some coffee. He also took your hand and held it, and when you had drunk some of the coffee the faintness passed.”

Sally said, “Oh-” She wasn’t at all sure that it wasn’t coming on again. She leaned her head against the back of the chair and saw Miss Silver lay her knitting down upon her lap and dip into her knitting-bag, coming up with a small round box of Tonbridge ware. It had an inlaid pattern on the lid, and it unscrewed. She was unscrewing it now and holding it out to Sally.

“Pray take an acid drop, Miss Foster. You will find it very refreshing. It is, I believe, practically impossible to faint while one is sucking an acid drop, and it would be exceedingly inconvenient for both of us if you were to faint just now. There is also not the slightest reason for you to do so.”

Sally found herself taking what Miss Silver had called an acid drop. The lemon flavour was certainly strong, and whether for that reason, or because of the practical course which the conversation seemed to be taking, she no longer felt as if everything was sliding away. She said,

“I don’t faint-ever.”

Miss Silver had resumed her knitting.

“It is not a practice to be commended. And now, my dear, what frightened you at breakfast this morning? No, wait a moment before you answer. It was something to do with the arrival of the parcel which contained the necklace. It gave you a shock which almost caused you to faint-and as you have just told me, you are not in the habit of fainting. I need not remind you that the necklace was taken from a murdered man. If the circumstances of its return have given you any clue to the identity of the murderer, you will be in no doubt as to your duty.”

The words “no doubt” impinged on Sally’s ear in an ironic ma

“No doubt?”

Miss Silver’s answer was firm.

“I believe that you can have none.”

After she had been silent for a little Sally said,

“You see, I know who you are.”

“Yes, my dear?”

“I have a flat in Miss Paine’s house-at least it was her house. David and I were helping her when she rang up Mrs. Moray to get your address, and when she rang up to ask you to see her. She didn’t tell us why-but you can’t help wondering-” Her voice trailed away.

Miss Silver’s needles clicked.

“You wondered whether her death had anything to do with the theft of the necklace and the murder of Mr. Hughes?”

Sally nearly swallowed the acid drop. She sat bolt upright and exclaimed,

“But it couldn’t-I mean, the necklace hadn’t been stolen then-it wasn’t until next day!”

Miss Silver turned the blue bootee.

“Miss Paine came to see me because she had seen two men meet in the Masters gallery. She saw them meet, and she saw one of them speak to the other. Owing to her proficiency in lip-reading she came into possession of evidence with regard to a crime which was being pla

Sally said, “Oh-”

Miss Silver drew upon the ball of wool in the flowered knitting-bag.

“A cruel and cold-blooded conspiracy was entered into and carried out. Mr. Garratt, who was to have been the messenger when the necklace was fetched from the bank, was incapacitated and Arthur Hughes was sent in his place. I believe what had been counted upon was that Mr. Bellingdon himself would fetch it. I believe the theft of the necklace was intended to screen an attempt on Mr. Bellingdon’s life. But when it came to the point Arthur Hughes had to be shot because he had recognized the assailant. Yesterday there was another attempt upon Mr. Bellingdon’s life. A wheel came off his car on a notoriously dangerous hill. He was known to be taking that road, and there is very little doubt that the accident was contrived. Now the necklace has been returned. I find this an extremely alarming circumstance.”

Sally said, “Why?”

The word came out so faintly that she could hardly hear it herself, but Miss Silver answered her.

“It is someone in Mr. Bellingdon’s household who is interested in his death-someone who would profit by it. The information necessary for the pla