'Say,' said Fred eagerly, 'could I ask hun something?'
Duff looked pleased and interested.
'I wondered if Maud's still mad at you,' Fred said. 'I had a kind of crazy idea that maybe she pushed that lamp over thinking it was you down below. I guess it's crazy, but I wondered, just die same.'
The doctor looked distressed. His eyes rolled. 'I don't thmk . . .' he began.
Duff said, 'No, Fred, she isn't that mad at him. Not any more.'
'How do you know?' said a startled Fred.
I>uff's eyes were on the doctor's face. 'I daresay she carries on the old antagonism, but not seriously, Fred. A woman isn't angry enough to murder the suitor who jilted her twenty-five years ago.'
'Certainly not,' said the doctor, gasping.
'Especially since she's . . . er . . . had . . .' Duff stopped.
The doctor said, 'Who told you!'
'You did,' Duff said, 'or at least you confirm my suspicion. As a matter of fact, Fred and Alice told me. Also, Josephine.'
The doctor took off his glasses and polished them frantically. 'I tell you, Mr. Duff, she said things to me the other night that made me sick to my stomach. Terrible! A terrible woman. Lustful, horrible, disgusting. No moral starch in her.'
'I don't care for Maud, myself,' murmured Fred, 'but for God's sake . . .'
'She taunted me!' the doctor said. 'Dear God, as if I cared!'
'Josephine touched her cross,' said Duff. 'I wonder, do her sisters know?'
Fred looked illuminated, and then grim. 'They can smell, can't they?' he said.
The doctor looked greenish-white.
'But I'll tell you one thing, Mr. Duff,' said Fred. 'What those two don't want to know, they don't let themselves know they know.'
'I think,' said Duff, 'you've put your finger on it. Yes, I think you have.'
'I have!' said Fred, amazed.
A man in the dark clothes of a minister came up the front walk from the gate.
'Here's Foster with a job for me, I suppose,' said Dr. Follett. 'The Methodist preacher, Mr. Duff. Our only Protestant Church. Wait. I'll... er ... send him away.'
Duff rose and stood quite still. 'Do the Whidock girls go to church?'
'No, no, but they're members. They used to be. Stephen . . .'
'How I would like to ask that man three rude and prying questions,' Duff said, 'and I can't.'
He stood still, and the doctor bristled. 'I think you can.' He rose to the challenge in Duff's manner. 'He's a friend of mine, and he doesn't gossip. Nether he nor I can afford it. Let me speak to him. I think I can guarantee you your answers.'
The doctor bustled importantly to the door and spoke with an air of great confidence to the sad-eyed man in the black suit. Fred would have winked, but Duff was looking with mild pleasure at a flowering tree visible through the window.
. 'Dr. Follett tells me you have three questions,' said the Reverend Mr. Foster. 'Please feel free to ask them. Anything I can do. Of course, there are some secrets . ..'
The man of God braced himself.
Duff smiled his charming smile. 'My questions aren't too shocking,' he said. 'This is the first one: Does Miss Gertrude Whitlock contribute generously to the upkeep of your church?'
The minister looked judicious. He smacked his lips. 'She contributes regularly,' he said, 'a sum which seems to me quite proper. Certainly, I appreciate her faithful support, and . . .'
'A gcx)d answer,' said Duff warmly. 'Now does Miss Maud Whitlock contribute generously, and so forth?'
'Miss Maud has been very generous on occasion,' said Mr. Foster, upon taking thought. 'She does not contribute regularly, but I have at times mentioned a special need to her and known her to empty her purse. Yes. Why . . .'
'Thank you very much,' said Duff with a gleam in his eye. 'Does Miss Isabel Whidock, and so forth, and so fordi?'
The minister said stiffy, 'She has not contributed since I have been in Ogaunee. Of course, I cannot say what she may or may not . . .'
'You are very kind,' said Duff, 'and I must keep my word and not keep you. Thank you, doctor, for your help. I am most grateful for it.'
The doctor blushed with pleasure. Duff could give pleasure. His thanks were sincere. But the minister looked rather baffled and disappointed. His sad eyes followed them as they left.
'Mrs. Innes's house,' Duff said, in the car.
Fred chuckled. ''He coulda gone on.'
