CROSS-QUESTIONS AND CROOKED ANSWERS

All unconscious of the slur just cast upon her forty years of
single-minded devotion to the Van Gorder family, Lizzie chose that
particular moment to open the door and make a little bob at her
mistress and the detective.

"The gentleman's room is ready," she said meekly. In her mind she
was already beseeching her patron saint that she would not have to
show the gentleman to his room. Her ideas of detectives were
entirely drawn from sensational magazines and her private opinion
was that Anderson might have anything in his pocket from a set of
terrifying false whiskers to a bomb!

Miss Cornelia, obedient to the detective's instructions, promptly
told the whitest of fibs for Lizzie's benefit.

"The maid will show you to your room now and you can make yourself
comfortable for the night." There--that would mislead Lizzie,
without being quite a lie.

"My toilet is made for an occasion like this when I've got my gun
loaded," answered Anderson carelessly. The allusion to the gun made
Lizzie start nervously, unhappily for her, for it drew his attention
to her and he now transfixed her with a stare.

"This is the maid you referred to?" he inquired. Miss Cornelia
assented. He drew nearer to the unhappy Lizzie.