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"He strode forward, striking right and left with mailed fists, smashing jawbones with his iron-shod knuckles."
"An' so, Dr. de Grandin, sor," Detective Sergeant Costello concluded with a pitying sidelong glance at his companion, "if there's annything ye can do for th' pore lad, 'tis meself that'll be grateful to ye for doin' it. Faith, if sumpin like this had happened to me whilst I was a-courtin' Maggie, I'd 'a' been a dead corpse from worry in less time than this pore felley's been sufferin'.
"Th' chief won't raise his hand in th' matter wid th' coroner's verdict starin' us in th' face, an' much as I'd like to do sumpin for th' boy, me hands is tied tighter'n th' neck of a sack. But with you, now, 'tis a different matter entirely. Meself, I'm inclined to agree with th' chief an' think th' pore gur-rl's dead as a herring, but if there's sumpin in th' case th' rest of us can’t see, sure, 'tis Dr. Jools de Grandin can spot it quicker than a hungry tom-cat smells a rat!"
Jules de Grandin turned his quick, birdlike glance from the big, red-headed Irishman to the slender, white-faced young man seated beside him. "What makes you assume your beloved survives, Monsieur?" he asked. "If the jury of the coroner returned a verdict of suicide"
"But, I tell you, sir, the jury didn't know what they were talking about!"
Young Everett Wilberding rose from his chair and faced the little Frenchman, his knuckles showing white with the intensity of his grip on the table edge. "My Ewell didn't commit suicide. She didn't kill herself, neither did Mazie. You must believe that, sir!"
Resuming his seat, he fought back to comparative calm as he laced his fingers together nervously. "Last Thursday night Ewell and I were going to a dance out at the country club. My friend, Bill Stimpson, was to take Mazie, Ewell's twin sister. The girls had been out visiting an aunt and uncle at Reynoldstown, and were to meet us at Monmouth Junction, then drive out to the club in Ewell's flivver.
"The girls took their party clothes out to Reynoldstown with them, and were to dress before leaving to meet
us. They were due at the Junction at 9 o'clock, but Ewell was hardly ever on time, so I thought nothing of it when they failed to show up at half-past. But when 10 o'clock came, with no sign of the girls, we began to think they must have had a blow-out or engine trouble. At half-past 10 I went to the drug store and 'phoned the girls' uncle at Reynoldstown, only to
