and milk prices."

Either my nose was growing accustomed to the odor, or it was dying
away: I took my foot away from the door. "When did Mrs. Ladley leave?"
I asked.

"This morning, very early. I rowed her to Federal Street."

"You couldn't have had much sleep," I said dryly. For he looked
horrible. There were lines around his eyes, which were red, and his
lips looked dry and cracked.

"She's not in the piece this week at the theater," he said, licking
his lips and looking past me, not at me. "She'll be back by Saturday."

I did not believe him. I do not think he imagined that I did. He shut
the door in my face, and it caught poor Peter by the nose. The dog ran
off howling, but although Mr. Ladley had been as fond of the animal as
it was in his nature to be fond of anything, he paid no attention.
As I started down the hall after him, I saw what Peter had been
carrying--a slipper of Mrs. Ladley's. It was soaked with water;
evidently Peter had found it floating at the foot of the stairs.

Although the idea of murder had not entered my head at that time, the
slipper gave me a turn. I picked it up and looked at it--a black one
with a beaded toe, short in the vamp and high-heeled, the sort most
actresses wear. Then I went back and knocked at the door of the front
room again.

"What the devil do you want now?" he called from beyond the door.

"Here's a slipper of Mrs. Ladley's," I said. "Peter found it floating
in the lower hall."

He opened the door wide, and let me in. The room was in tolerable
order, much better than when Mrs. Ladley was about. He looked at the
slipper, but he did not touch it. "I don't think that is hers," he
said.

"I've seen her wear it a hundred times."

"Well, she'll never wear it again." And then, seeing me stare, he
added: "It's ruined with the water. Throw it out. And, by the way, I'm
sorry, but I set fire to one of the pillow-slips--dropped asleep, and
my cigarette did the rest. Just put it on the bill."

He pointed to the bed. One of the pillows had no slip, and the ticking
cover had a scorch or two on it. I went over and looked at it.

"The pillow will have to be paid for, too, Mr. Ladley," I said. "And
there's a sign nailed on the door that forbids smoking in bed. If you
are going to set fire to things, I shall have to charge extra."

"Really!" he jeered, looking at me with his cold fishy eyes. "Is there
any sign on the door saying that boarders are charged extra for seven
fee