d have been glad if she'd got the
lead.... Well, just then along came Janet--"

"_Janet Raymond?_" Dundee ejaculated. "I thought you said she had
refused the invitation when Mrs. Miles phoned her."

"So she had, but she said she changed her mind, had been blue all
evening, and needed cheering up."

"How did she get in?"

"She walked over from her house, which isn't very far from the Mileses',
and simply came up the path to the porch," Penny explained. "Tracey
asked her if she had seen Sprague on the road--it's the same road Dexter
would have had to take going down the hill to the main road--and she
acted awfully queer--"

"How?" Dundee demanded.

"Exactly as she would act, since she was in love with him," Penny
retorted. "She turned very red, and asked if Sprague had inquired for
her, and Flora quite sharply told her he hadn't. Then Janet said she was
very much surprised that Sprague had been there, and that she couldn't
understand why he had behaved so strangely. Then Lois said she might as
well go fetch Peter from the library, since Sprague was no longer there
to contaminate the atmosphere. She came back--"

"After how long a time?"

"Oh, about five minutes, I suppose," Penny answered wearily. "She came
in, her arm linked with Peter's, and laughing. Said she had found him
reading a 'Deadwood Dick' thriller.... One of Tracey's hobbies--" she
broke off to explain, "--is collecting old-fashioned thrillers, like the
Nick Carter, Diamond King Brady, Buffalo Bill and Deadwood Dick
paper-bound books. Of course he didn't take up that hobby until a lot of
other rich men had done it first. There was never anybody less original
than poor Tracey.... Well, Flora gave up her place to Janet, and again
played anagrams with Johnny, Peter taking his original place at our
table. Suddenly Polly threw down her cards--she'd been having rotten
luck and seemed out of sorts--and said she didn't want to play bridge
any more. So poor Flora again had to be the perfect hostess, and switch
from anagrams to bridge."

"And Polly played anagrams with Drake?" Dundee prompted.

"No. She said she thought anagrams were silly, and wandered off the
porch and down the path, calling over her shoulder that she was going to
take a walk. Tracey asked Johnny if he'd mind mixing the highballs and
bringing out the sandwiches. Said Whitson had left a thermos bucket of
ice cubes on the sideboard, some bottles of ginger ale, and a tray of
glasses and san