'Well, Miss Spencer,' she greeted the former Baroness Zerlinski, 'I
guess you didn't expect to see me. You left our hotel very suddenly
this afternoon, and you left it very suddenly a few days ago; and so
I've just called to make a few inquiries.'
To do the lady justice, Miss Spencer bore the surprising ordeal
very well.
She did not flinch; she betrayed no emotion. The sole sign of
perturbation was in her hurried breathing.
'You have ceased to be the Baroness Zerlinski,' Nella continued.
'May I sit down?'
'Certainly, sit down,' said Miss Spencer, copying the girl's tone.
'You are a fairly smart young woman, that I will say. What do you
want? Weren't my books all straight?'
'Your books were all straight. I haven't come about your books. I
have come about the murder of Reginald Dimmock, the
disappearance of his corpse, and the disappearance of Prince
Eugen of Posen. I thought you might be able to help me in some
investigations which I am making.'
Miss Spencer's eyes gleamed, and she stood up and moved swiftly
to the mantelpiece.
'You may be a Yankee, but you're a fool,' she said.
She took hold of the bell-rope.
'Don't ring that bell if you value your life,' said Nella.
'If what?' Miss Spencer remarked.
'If you value your life,' said Nella calmly, and with the words she
pulled from her pocket a very neat and dainty little revolver.
Chapter Nine TWO WOMEN AND THE REVOLVER
'YOU - you're only doing that to frighten me,' stammered Miss
Spencer, in a low, quavering voice.
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