Indeed, it is rather insulting her to suggest it."

"She and this Quadling were close friends."

"So you say. On what evidence I do not know, but I dispute it."

"Then how could the beads get there? They were her property, worn by
her."

"Once, I admit, but not necessarily on this journey. Suppose she had
given the mantle away--to her maid, for instance; I believe ladies often
pass on their things to their maids."

"It is all pure presumption, a mere theory. This maid--she has not as
yet been imported into the discussion."

"Then I would suggest that you do so without delay. She is to my mind
a--well, rather a curious person."

"You know her--spoke to her?"

"I know her, in a way. I had seen her in the Via Margutta, and I nodded
to her when she came first into the car."

"And on the journey--you spoke to her frequently?"

"I? Oh, dear, no, not at all. I noticed her, certainly; I could not help
it, and perhaps I ought to tell her mistress. She seemed to make friends
a little too readily with people."