rvant young woman, though? Not a single thing escapes
your eagle eye, does it?"

She pouted. "Oh! rag me if you want to. But I am _terribly_ noticing.
There ain't many things that happen which I don't get wise to."

"Not even vanishing suit-cases, eh?"

"No: not even that. It was funny about that, though. At first I thought
maybe Sis was packing up to go meet Gerald in Nashville--but I figured
out that it was bad enough to have to live with him here without chasing
all over the country after him."

"You say that suit-case left the house after she packed it?"

"Sure pop."

"Who took it?"

"I don't know. Sis was out a couple of times that day--so I guess she
did."

Carroll shrugged. "She was probably sending some of Mr. Lawrence's
belongings to him in Nashville."

"Huh! There're some things even a great detective like you don't know.
Don't you suppose I noticed that the clothes she was packing in that
suit-case were _hers_?"

"Really?"

"You bet your life, I noticed. You see," she grew suddenly confidential.
"There's a certain kind of perfume Sis uses--awful expensive. Roland
Warren used to bring it to her. Well, I've been using it too--and Sis
never did get wise. I only used it when she did--and when she smelled
it, she didn't know that she was smelling what I had on. Well, it isn't
likely she was sending that to Gerald, is it?"

"Hardly. But are you sure she packed it?"

"I'll say I am. I saw her do it. And then two days later I saw the bottle
on her dressing table again--and so I just naturally looked to see if the
suit-case was back and it surely was."

"But perhaps it never left the house?"

"Guess again, Mr. Carroll. I know--because just before I went to Hazel's
I hunted all over for it, to get some of that extract myself. And the
suit-case wasn't there. Believe me--it's _some_ perfume, too!"

"You say Mr. Warren gave it to her?"

"He sure did. That man wasn't any piker, believe me. It costs twelve
dollars an _ounce_!"

"No?"

"Yeh--goodness knows how much a pound would cost. I used it all the
time--I knew when he gave it to Sis he meant it for me--because, like I
told you, he was simply crazy about me. Told me so dozens of times. Said
he came to see me. It used to bore him terribly when he'd have to sit in
the room and talk to Sis and Gerald."

"I fancy it did--" Carroll summoned a waiter--"A little baked Alaska
for dessert?"

"Baked Alaska! Oh! boy! you sure spoke a mouthful that time.