Page:Alice Stuyvesant - The Vanity Box.djvu/103

 embroidered in beads. She sometimes put her gloves into it, too."

"Why do you think the key was not there?"

"Because—the bead bag was found, empty, and the key of the Tower door has since been discovered, here in the house."

"Where was it discovered?"

"In a room my wife used as a sitting-room."

"Her boudoir?"

"Not exactly a boudoir. She attended to all business there, as well as a sitting-room, saw the servants, indoor and outdoor servants, when necessary, and poor people who used to come and tell her their troubles, expecting her to help them. The key has been found in the drawer of her writing-desk."

"Who found it?"

"I did, with the inspector of police."

"What led you to look for it there?"

"I thought it would have been in one of those drawers if anywhere. Besides, I was obliged to—we were looking through my wife's papers."

"You have no reason to think that any one else knew where she kept this key, or could have replaced it after the murder?"

"I have no reason to think anything of the kind."

"Where exactly did you leave Lady Hereward, on parting from her in the wood?"