Natalie Sumner Lincoln

“ Kitty shivered, the idea shocked her.
“Did you spend last Sunday at home, Miss Baird?” asked Penfield.
“No, not the entire day,” she replied. “I left there about three o’clock in the afternoon to go to my cousin, Mrs. Benjamin Potter, at whose apartment I was to spend the night.”
“Was it your custom to leave your aunt alone in the house at night?”
“Not a custom, certainly; but I did occasionally stay overnight with friends or with my cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, in Washington,” Kitty explained. “Aunt Susan was never afraid of being left alone in the house. ”

“ Penfield!” Kitty rose.
“Be seated, Madam. A witness cannot leave until dismissed by the coroner.” Penfield spoke with unwonted severity. “I will change my question. What did you and Miss Baird quarrel about on Sunday?”
“Quarrel?”
“Yes, Madam, quarrel. Your servant, Oscar, overheard you.”
Kitty’s bright color had flown. With eyes expressing her scorn, she threw back her head defiantly.
“Ask Oscar,” she suggested. “Servants’ gossip may prove diverting—whether truthful or not.”
Penfield watched her for an intolerable moment. Kitty’s breath was coming unevenly when he finally spoke. ”

“ Kitty debated the question thoughtfully before answering it. “Not many of Aunt Susan’s old friends are alive,” she said. “Aunty had just passed her seventieth birthday. She liked all my friends.”
“All?”
“Yes.” Kitty regarded him steadfastly. She had noted the emphasis on the word “all.” A moment passed before the coroner addressed her again.
“Miss Baird, have you unlimited telephone service?”
“Why, yes.” Kitty’s tone expressed surprise. “We have always had unlimited service.”
Penfield paused and wrote a few lines on his memorandum pad. When he spoke, his voice had gained an added seriousness. ”