The Square Emerald · Chapter 11 (2/2)

She ran her hand round the silken lining of the case, and suddenly her fingers stopped. She felt a thin oblong package under the silk. Reaching out she took Coldwell’s scissors from his desk and cut through the silk. Inserting her fingers, she drew forth an envelope. It was closed and bore no inscription. She tore off the end and drew out an oblong document. It was a marriage certificate, performed apparently by the Rev. H. Hermitz, of Elfield, Connecticut.

“Good Lord!” said the startled Coldwell, reading over her shoulder.

For a moment the words swam before the eyes of the girl, and then out of the blur they appeared with staggering clearness. It was a document certifying that Peter James Dawlish had been joined in holy matrimony with Jane Winifred Hood⁠—and Hood was Lady Raytham’s maiden name!

She read it again, then put the document into the inspector’s hands.

“Then they were married,” she said evenly. “That was the thing I wasn’t sure about.”