"Yes, sir! Nobody touches a thing in this: room while I'm here.
You, sir, are of course an exception, but no one else is allowed
to meddle with anything."

This reminded me that as the detective in charge of this case, it
was my privilege--indeed, my duty--to examine the papers and
personal effects that were all about, in an effort to gather
clues for future use.

I was ignorant of many important details, and turned to Parmelee
for information.

That young man however, though voluble, was, inclined to talk on
only one subject, the suspected criminal, Miss Florence Lloyd.

"You see, it must be her bag. Because who else could have left
it here? Mrs. Pierce, the only other lady in the house, doesn't
carry a youngish bag like that. She'd have a black leather bag,
more likely, or a -- or a --"

"Well, it really doesn't matter what kind of a bag Mrs. Pierce
would carry," said I, a little impatiently; "the thing is to
prove whether this is Miss Lloyd's bag or not. And as it is
certainly not a matter of conjecture, but a matter of fact, I
think we may leave it for the present, and turn our attention to
other matters."

I could see that Parmalee was disappointed that I had made no
startling deductions from my study of the bag and its contents,
and, partly owing to my own chagrin at this state of affairs, I