ht have been paper, or
perhaps a tiny piece of the medical gauze he had been using--flutter
into the flames. The gesture was so negligent that in the ordinary way
one would not have given it a second thought, yet now, because of
Esther's unintelligible reference to a bandage, it awoke in Roger a
vague uneasiness. Again the incredible suspicion crossed his mind; he
caught himself wondering if just possibly there were more in this than
met the eye.

Studying the white, bloodstained face lying against the blue cushion,
he asked himself if Esther did really possess some terrible knowledge
of which he was completely ignorant. Could her jumbled utterances be
linked together into any sort of meaning? As if conscious of his
unspoken question she stirred restlessly, muttering words he could not
catch, then turned a little away from him on to her right side. As she
did so his gaze fell upon her left coat sleeve. There was a spot near
the shoulder, no bigger than a half-crown, where the material was oddly
frayed and roughened. He examined it closely, then as gently as
possible unfastened the coat and slipped it down from the shoulder....
What was this? The heavy crepe-de-Chine blouse underneath, in the spot
that corresponded, was punctured with tiny, round holes, a little
constellation, thickly grouped. What did it mean? He laid his finger
on the spot, but at the touch she recoiled from him with a shudder that
shook her from head to foot.

"No, no, not again!" she cried out in her former accents of terror.

He soothed her, gripped by a sudden fear.

"Esther, darling, it's only me, Roger. I won't hurt you," he whispered
softly. "Listen to me, dear. I want to know what these marks are on
your arm. Try to tell me. Try to tell me where you have spent these
past two days."

She opened her lips and moistened them painfully; then as he thought
she was going to speak he saw her eyes fix themselves upon a spot above
his shoulder, while her whole face became contorted with fright.
Glancing behind him he saw that the doctor had quietly come near them
again and was standing, a silent, bulky figure, at the foot of the
canape. Filled with annoyance Roger motioned to him to withdraw from
the girl's sight, but already it was too late. With a tremor more
violent than those preceding she buried her face in the cushion, then
lay completely still, so still that Roger became seriously alarmed.

"Here, will someone fetch some br