"
"That is impossible," she answered coldly; "unless you were in
this house before the death of my aunt."
"Ah! then it was to Miss Loach you gave it," said Jennings,
wondering how Maraquito had become possessed of it.
"It was; though I do not recognize your right to ask such a
question, Mr. Jennings. My late aunt was very devoted to Mr.
Mallow and anxious that our marriage should take place. He
gave me the photograph--"
"With an inscription," put in the detective.
"Certainly," she rejoined, flushing, "with an inscription
intended for me alone. I was unwilling to part with the
photograph, but my aunt begged so eagerly for it that I could
not refuse it."
"How did she see it in the first instance?"
"I brought it to show her after Mr. Mallow gave it to me. May
I ask where you saw it?"
Jennings looked at her with marked significance. "I saw it in
the house of a woman called Maraquito."
"And how did it get there?"
"I can't tell you. Do you know this woman?"
"I don't even know her name. Who is she?"
"Her real name is Senora Gredos and she claims to be a Spanish
Jewess. She keeps a kind of gambling salon. To be plain with
you, Miss Saxon, I really did not see the photograph in her
house. But a girl called Susan Grant--"
"I know. My late aunt's parlor-maid."
"Well, the photograph was in her box. I found it when the
servants insisted on their boxes being searched. She
confessed that she had taken it from her last mistress, who
was Senora Gredos.
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