“If it has alcohol in it, it’ll do,” she said. “I came near fainting, I suppose.”

“Terry,” he said reproachfully. “Not you.”

He went out to the kitchen and returned with two glasses.

“Drink it down fast,” he said. “It’ll work wonders.”

She swallowed the drink and sat down in one of the big, summery chairs.

“Better?” Lowry asked.

“Much better,” she said. “Then that was it. I was right.”

Lowry looked at the earring in his hand.

“Think it’s pretty?” he asked.

“A little on the flashy side,” she said. “But it depends on who wears it.”

“Doris would have looked all right with it on, I guess.”

“Why was he suddenly so worried about a missing earring?”

“I’ll be able to tell you in about an hour, Terry. Where do you suppose the phone is?”

“Right behind you.”

Lowry turned around. There was a telephone on the table.

“My powers of observation are marvelous,” he said.

Lowry gave the operator a number. Terry looked around the room admiringly.

“Imagine a mug like Carrol having a lovely place like this. He must have paid an interior decorator a small fortune or do you think there’s a side to him nobody knows about?”

“No,” Lowry said. “And I can’t imagine him having a place like this.” He turned to the phone. “I want Detective Sergeant Brady,” he said into the mouthpiece.

Terry listened as Lowry spoke.

“Hello, Brady,” he was saying. “Remember what you said. Get Dr. Clayton. Tell him I’ve caught Carrol burglarizing his beach home. Bring him down here. He may want to see what’s missing. No, Brady, I’m not being a wise guy. You said you’d give us a break. Well, this is it. Be a sport, will you, old man? That’s a good fellow. I’ll expect you in about an hour.”

Lowry put the phone back in its cradle. “We can have another drink now,” he said. He poured more whiskey and sat down opposite Terry. “Read any good books lately?” he asked.

“Ned,” she said. “Then this isn’t Carrol’s place.”

“No.”

“Then what was he doing?”

“Looking for an earring, apparently.”

“But why?”

“We’ll have to wait until he wakes up to ask him. By the way, I think I’ll see how he’s getting along.”

He finished his drink, set the empty glass down, and went into the bedroom.

Carrol lay just as he had left him. His face was white but the blood had stopped running at the back of his head. Lowry bent over him and listened to his faint breathing.

Terry came in.

“Is he all right?” she asked.