There were some very rude interruptions, to which I paid no notice whatever. An elderly man whom I had never seen before, and who spoke with an air of authority, advised them to give me a hearing. They did let me go on.
I told them what I had seen Miss Sterndale say to her brother on the balcony the morning before. It was some satisfaction to see the startled look which came upon the faces of both the brother and the sister. They made some very noisy and uncivil comments, but, as I could see how uncomfortable they were feeling, I let them make them. I went on. I told how unhappy I had been all day, and how, when I returned, I found under the bottom tray of my jewel-case the diamond pendant. How, astounded, I went down to ask Miss Sterndale why she had put it there, and how, encountering Miss Goodridge bewailing her loss, utterly taken aback, I held out to her her pendant in a manner which, I admitted, might very easily have seemed suspicious.
By this time the manager’s room was in a delightful state of din. Mr and Miss Sterndale were both of them shouting together, declaring that it was shocking that such a creature as I was should be allowed to make such monstrous insinuations. I believe, if it had not been for that grey-haired man who had suddenly assumed a position of authority, that Miss Sterndale would have made a personal assault on me. She seemed half beside herself with rage – and, I was quite sure, with something else as well.
I continued – in spite of the Sterndales. I could see that I was creating a state of perplexity in the minds of my hearers which might very shortly induce them to take up an entirely different attitude towards me. I told of the brief dialogue which had taken place between the sister and brother that very morning. And then you should have seen how the Sterndales stormed and raged.
‘It seems to me,’ observed the grey-haired man to Mr Sterndale, ‘that you protest too much, sir. If this young lady is all the things you say she is, presently you will have every opportunity of proving it. Since she is one young girl among all us grown-ups, it is only right and decent that we should hear what she has to say for herself. We can condemn her afterwards – that part will be easy.’
So I went on again. There was very little to add. They knew almost as much of the rest as I did. Someone had effected a wholesale clearance of pretty nearly every valuable which the house contained. I did not pretend to be certain, but I thought it extremely probable that it was Miss Sterndale who had done this, while her brother kept the owners occupied in other directions. At this point glances were exchanged. I afterwards learned that Mr Sterndale had organised a party for an excursion on the Lake of Brienz, which had been joined by nearly everyone in the place with the exception of Miss Sterndale, who was supposed to have gone for a solitary expedition up the Schynnige Platte. When Miss Sterndale saw those glances, as I have no doubt she did, she commenced to storm and rage again, and continued to the end. I do not think, even then, she guessed what was coming; but she was already more uncomfortable than she had expected to be, and I could see that her brother felt the same.
His face was white and set; he looked like a man who was trying to think of the best way in which to confront a desperate situation.
I went on to explain, quite calmly, that as, owing to the machinations of Mr Sterndale and his sister, everyone in the house had come to look upon me as a thief, their evident intention was to allow suspicion to be centred on me, and that that was why they put those things in my bag.
‘But what were they going to gain by that?’ asked the grey-haired man, rather pertinently. His question was echoed in a chorus by the rest – particularly, I noticed, by the Sterndales, who laid emphasis on the transparent absurdity of what I was saying.
‘If you will allow me to continue, I will soon make it perfectly clear to you what they were going to gain. If you remember, when Mr Sterndale was talking to his sister on the balcony this morning, I saw him say to her that there were only two things in the house worth having.’
Here Mr Sterndale burst into a very hurricane of adjectives. The grey-haired man addressed him with rather unlooked-for vigour.
‘Silence, sir! Allow Miss Lee to continue.’
Mr Sterndale was silent. I fancy he was rather cowed by what he saw in the speaker’s eyes. I did continue.
‘The only two things which, according to Mr Sterndale, were worth having were Mrs Anstruther’s diamonds and Mrs Newball’s pearls. If they put the whole of the rest of the stolen things into my bag it would be taken for granted that I was the thief, and they would be able to continue in unsuspected possession of the two things which were worth much more than all the rest put together.’
The moment I stopped the clamour began again.
‘And where do you suggest, young lady,’ asked the grey-haired man, ‘that those two articles are?’
‘I will tell you.’ I looked at Miss Sterndale and then at her
