This would have been done as soon
after the ladies had left as possible, and there would then have been
plenty of time for Lloyd to hurry out and meet them before
dark--especially plenty of time to meet them _coming back_, as they must
have been, since they were carrying their ferns. The match was an article
well chosen for its purpose, as being a not altogether unlikely thing to
find on a dressing-table, and, if noticed, likely to lead to the wrong
conclusions adopted by the official detective.
"In Mrs. Armitage's case the taking of an inferior brooch and the leaving
of a more valuable ring pointed clearly either to the operator being a
fool or unable to distinguish values, and certainly, from other
indications, the thief seemed no fool. The door was locked, and the
gas-fitter, so to speak, on guard, and the window was only eight or ten
inches open and propped with a brush. A human thief entering the window
would have disturbed this arrangement, and would scarcely risk discovery
by attempting to replace it, especially a thief in so great a hurry as to
snatch the brooch up without unfastening the pin.
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