Later,oneofthedetectivescameuandsatbesideher。Didsheknow,heasked,ofanythinginthehousethatcouldvebeenusedastheweaon?Wouldshemindhavingalookaroundtoseeifanythingwasmissing-averybigsanner,forexamle,oraheavymetalvase。
Theydidnthaveanyheavymetalvases,shesaid。
"Orabigsanner?
"
Shedidntthinktheyhadabigsanner。Buttheremightbesomethingslikethatinthegarage。
Thesearchwenton。Sheknewthattherewereotherolicemeninthegardenallaroundthehouse。Shecouldheartheirfootstesonthegraveloutside,andsometimesshesawaflashofatorchthroughachinkinthecurtains。Itbegantogetlate,nearlynineshenoticedbytheclockonthemantle。Thefourmensearchingtheroomsseemedtobegrowingweary,atrifleexaserated。
"Jack,
"shesaid,thenexttimeSergeantNoonanwentby。
"Wouldyoumindgivingmeadrink?
"
"SureIllgiveyouadrink。Youmeanthiswhiskey?
"
"Yes,lease。Butjustasmallone。Itmightmakemefeelbetter。
"
Hehandedhertheglass。
"Whydontyouhaveoneyourself,
"shesaid。
"Youmustbeawfullytired。Pleasedo。Youvebeenverygoodtome。
"
"Well,
"heanswered。
"Itsnotstrictlyallowed,butImighttakejustadrotokeemegoing。
"
Onebyonetheotherscameinandwereersuadedtotakealittleniofwhiskey。Theystoodaroundratherawkwardlywiththedrinksintheirhands,uncomfortableinherresence,tryingtosayconsolingthingstoher。SergeantNoonanwanderedintothekitchen,comeoutquicklyandsaid,
"Look,Mrs。Maloney。Youknowthatovenofyoursisstillon,andthemeatstillinside。
"
"Ohdearme!
"shecried。
"Soitis!
"
"Ibetterturnitoffforyou,hadntI?
"
"Willyoudothat,Jack。Thankyousomuch。
"
Whenthesergeantreturnedthesecondtime,shelookedathimwithherlarge,darktearfuleyes。
"JackNoonan,
"shesaid。
"Yes?
"