"Of course it is," said Mrs. Pierce, who now that she had found
her voice, seemed anxious to talk. "Nobody ever carries a bag
like that in the house,--in the evening."

"But," began Parmalee, "such a thing might have occurred, if Miss
Lloyd had had occasion to go to her uncle's office with, we will
say, papers or notes."

Personally I thought this an absurd suggestion, but Mr. Monroe
seemed to take it seriously.

"That might be," he said, and I could see that momentarily the
suspicions against Florence Lloyd were growing in force and were
taking definite shape.

As I noted the expressions, on the various faces, I observed that
only Mr. Philip Crawford and the jurors Hamilton and Porter
seemed entirely in sympathy with the girl. The coroner,
Parmalee, and even the lawyer, Randolph, seemed to be willing,
almost eager for her to incriminate herself.

Gregory Hall, who should have been the most sympathetic of all,
seemed the most coldly indifferent, and as for Mrs. Pierce, her
actions were so erratic and uncertain, no one could tell what she
thought.

"You are quite positive it is not your bag?" repeated the coroner
once more.