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"The Second Latchkey"

Once in, the wretch must have drugged him, because the
pearls were in a parcel under his pillow. But how the man--or men--got
into the house is a mystery, unless one of the new servants was an
accomplice.
_Nothing_ was broken open. In the morning every door and window was
as usual. Of course the servants are under suspicion; but they seem
stupid, ordinary people, according to James.
As for Mrs. Ellsworth, he says she is making a fuss over the wretched
bits of jewellery she lost, things of no importance. She, too, slept
through the affair, and knew what had happened only when she waked to
see a safe she has in the wall of her bedroom wide open.
It seems that in place of her jewel box and some money she kept there
was an _insulting_ note, announcing that for the first time something
belonging to her would be used for a good purpose. To James this is the
one bright spot in the darkness.
When Annesley had read this long letter with its many italics, she passed
it to Knight who, in exchange, handed her a London newspaper with a page
folded so as to give prominence to a certain column.


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