"Yeah, his name's Peter and he's a nice boy, too. Got plenty of money. Soon as I met him he started spending it on me." Toory knew that was Annie the parlour maid, who roomed high upstairs with Nerina. Presently there were other, very faint murmurs, faint because they came from the top of the most distant wing of the big house. "Sure I hid it. You don't think I'd be such a fool, keeping it here in the house? It's hid down in the woods, in that place I showed you. Thirty thousand pounds sterling we'll get for the diamond-string. It's worth easy that." "Gil, is it really?" "If it's worth a farthing." * * * * * The murmurs came from Higgins and his wife. The barking of the dog down the hill swelled louder, so that Toory listened to the animal as it bayed at the moon. It often did that, mostly all night. Then there was Higgins' murmur again. "I say, don't lose your nerve, old girl. It'll be a mess. We'll be suspected, of course, but so will all the staff, which makes it quite all right. See what I mean? Miss Babs being blind, anybody could have sneaked up on her to watch her open that strongbox. It's a simple lock, like I said. Anybody could have done it." "Or even a visitor, Gil." "Of course. Lots of people knew she had that necklace. There'll be a lot of stink when Miss Babs finds out it's been stolen. But they'll never pin it on us. I'm not a fool, wiped everything off. Not a chance I left any fingerprints." "But Gil, the police! they'll--" "Sure. They'll question us all. So what? We'll just sit tight, and leave the necklace down there in the woods while we wait a good two years. Then all we do is say we'll have a go at service in England again. I'll sell the diamonds over there one by one. Who'll ever be the wiser?" It was nice to hear the drone of the voices for a while, and then Toory's attention drifted away. The weathercock on the roof gable began squeaking again. It was always loud on windy nights. It blended with the human-voice murmurs. * * * * * "I didn't know the blarsted thing was in the house, I tell you. I thought it had taken Miss Babs out for a walk." "Gil, it saw you take the necklace!" "It did. But I tell you I didn't know it had come back with Miss Babs. I never thought about it at all." "You could have waited until some other day. You could have--" "Stop jawin' at me, Mary. It's done now." "But it will tell what it saw." "Don't be a fool! That blarsted machine's not smart enough to talk--not unless somebody questions it." "But they _will_ question it. Miss Babs will ask it if it saw anyone at the safe." "Not until she finds out the necklace is gone, and she won't find out until she goes to that party Friday night. Gives me three days to shut up that damn machine. You'll see."