ght?"

She smiled shrewdly, as if she guessed his thoughts.

"Yes; he said he dined at the Casino with a man he ran into, took a
bank at baccarat, and as he was winning he didn't like to leave off
until the room closed. After that he went to a Turkish bath."

It furnished an excellent, complete alibi, if one could believe it.
After all, why not? It could easily be true.

"He's catching the night train back to Paris," she went on. "He only
came for the funeral. You know he was so fond of poor Charles."

"So he's going to South America, after all," mused Roger. "I thought
he'd given it up."

"Why should you think that?" she demanded quickly. "He must do
something to make a living."

He was not listening, his thoughts busy again with the question of why,
if Esther had not gone off with Holliday, she had failed to communicate
with him? In one way he felt slightly relieved, yet the business was
as mysterious as ever.

"Roger," Therese said suddenly, sitting down on the side of the bed, "I
believe you are still worrying about that nurse. Isn't that so?"

He was silent, unwilling to discuss the matter with Therese. Yet, in
spite of himself, something in her tone made him look at her
attentively.

"If I were you," she continued slowly, "I shouldn't think too much
about her. I feel I ought to tell you that."

His eyes flashed at her a belligerent glance.

"Just what do you mean by that?" he demanded.

"I hadn't meant to tell you," she went on with slight hesitation. "But
you know I had a reason for sending her away yesterday. If it hadn't
been for the fact that your father seemed to like her so much the
doctor would have made a change some little time ago. He wasn't
altogether ... pleased with her."

"Pleased with her! What are you getting at?"

"Roger, don't upset yourself; lie down quietly, or I won't tell you."

"Very well, I'm perfectly quiet; now tell me. This is something I want
to hear. What did he think was wrong about Miss Rowe?"

The hardness in his voice was a challenge. Therese examined the nails
of her right hand and lightly polished them on the palm of her left.
Then she replied carefully:

"Well, you know soon after she came here she began to behave just a
little oddly at times. At first the doctor did not think it serious,
but towards the end he was afraid that she was a little--a little----"

"A little what?"

"Well--unbalanced. Have you ever heard of anyone having 'co