Carolyn Wells

“ I do think there’s a lot behind the present aspect, and it is not going to be easy to ferret it out.”
“Do you suppose for a minute I thought it would be?” the detective growled. “Well, how shall we set about it?”
“First—and I don’t mean to do it first—but of first importance, is to locate Locke. Second, learn the details of Mrs. Barham’s past. On those two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
“And after those two trifling errands are attended to, what next?”
“Don’t be pettish, Hutchins. You’ve never had a bigger chance for good work. Go to it. ”

“ Well, don’t let any one touch that robe till it’s tested.”
Charley appeared at the table suddenly.
“Caterman here.”
“Caterman? Oh, the caterer’s man. Tell him to come in. And bring me another cup of coffee. It’s the best in the world!” ”

“ Hutchins called an assistant, and bade him search the house for Locke’s monkish garb, and then he resumed:
“Well, I think that constitutes my entire exhibition. Mrs. Barham is murdered and Locke is missing. Have you anything further to add?”
“Chinese Charley is missing also.”
“Yes. Now we have nothing that can be rightly called evidence, and very few, if any clues. I can’t care much for these ripped off spangles, and dropped gloves. The studio is full of such things. At a masquerade, the costumes fairly rain tinsel and fringes. But I do think, Hutchins, that this is a big case. ”

“ In the main, they found little of interest. The usual furniture of a bachelor’s studio quarters; of a man, apparently neither rich nor poverty-stricken. The appointments were plain and far from being over-abundant, yet the place was comfortable.
Small gilded chairs from the caterer’s had, of course, been hired for the occasion, as had a long hatrack in the hall and a similar one in the ladies’ dressing room.
This room interested Hutchins, being, as it was, Locke’s bedroom.
“It ought to give us a line on the man’s personality,” the detective said, hopefully. ”

“ I’ll bet he knows nothing of what took place—and then this morning he returned at six o’clock from force of habit.
“He crept softly into Locke’s room to see if he were there, not wanting to wake him. It’s all fine. But look out that he doesn’t get away. They’re a sly race. We’ll accumulate his fine-smelling breakfast, and then we’ll see what to do with him.”
Hutchins was in fine spirits, and asked to see the monk’s robe. ”

“ It isn’t Mrs. Barham’s—she had hers on when they found her.”
“Oh, it’s an extra then. It’s just a tiny black domino, with a lace frill——”
“A woman’s, then?”
“Not necessarily. The men who wore fancy-fiddly costumes, like cavaliers or troubadours, wore this sort of mask.” ”