Free Seaside Hospital by Pauline Ash Page B

Jacky’s turn to go on stage. One glance at Jacky’s taut white face confirmed Lisa’s worst fears.
    “Oh, good, you got here!” Jacky said, without preamble. “Why do these things have to happen to me? I always have bad luck. It wasn’t my fault!”
    To save precious time, Lisa said urgently: “Is it about the missing clip from Lady Frenton’s room?”
    Jacky darted a quick, frightened look at her. “How did you know about it?”
    “Another nurse came back later from the party and told me there was an awful row about it,” Lisa said. “Jacky, you—you didn’t take it, did you?”
    “I found it, honestly I did—” Jacky began.
    “Look,” Lisa broke in, “I don’t know how long you’ve got before your call, so let’s stick to the truth, Jacky. We know about your weakness, so do tell me just what happened. I saw you go into the house. I followed you to try and stop you—after I’d found someone to look after the children I’d taken with me—but by then I’d lost you.”
    Jacky turned sullen. “Well, she shouldn’t leave her jewelry around like that, if she doesn’t want to lose it. It’s happened before, only last time it was one of the foreign maids who took it, but it was found again, and she was let off.”
    “Jacky! You don’t mean to say you intended to let the blame fall on someone else—” Lisa began, in horror.
    “It would have been all right,” Jacky interrupted her, impatiently. “She’d have wriggled out of it again. Anyway, it all went wrong this time. Derek told me, coming home from the party, that they couldn’t suspect her because she’s in her own country, on holiday! Why couldn’t he tell me that before? Here, you take the thing—get rid of it—I don’t care what you do with it! I never want to see it again!” and thrusting her hand into her dressing gown jacket, Jacky pulled out the clip and threw it over to Lisa.
    Lisa caught it mechanically, and stared down at it. Its superb workmanship alone proclaimed it as a piece worth a great deal of money, and even to Lisa, who knew little about such things, it was quite understandable to believe that the stones were real gems.
    “Oh, Jacky, Jacky,” she said in despair, her throat thick. To her, until this moment, the important thing was that her sister had not grown out of the old habits, and the theft of Ellard’s gold cigarette case had not been the last. “Why did you do it?”
    “Don’t keep on about it!” Jacky flared. “The thing is to get rid of it, before they start searching my dressing room!”
    Lisa’s eyes widened. “They? Who ?”
    “Who do you think?” Jacky returned, derisively. “That’s the whole trouble! Do you suppose I’d have cared, in the ordinary way? Don’t be silly! I was so careful, I know no one saw me go in or come out, and I’d relied on Sir Jules always hushing this sort of thing up. After all, if it’s known that you leave jewels about openly, it messes up the insurance angle. Then at the last minute Derek says that this time his father’s absolutely furious, and he’s going to call in the police.”
    “The police!” Lisa echoed, and looked down again at the jeweled clip.
    “It’ll be all right if there’s nothing here,” Jacky said, her confidence returning as always, when Lisa was there to manage things. “All I have to do is to say I don’t know anything about it.”
    “Does Derek Frenton know you have it?” Lisa asked.
    Jacky’s glance was withering. “Of course he doesn’t! If he ever suspected, it would ruin everything, as far as I’m concerned,” and Lisa noticed that for the first time Jacky looked genuinely worried. Jacky was remembering the way Derek had reacted when she had suggested running away to get married. She must tread carefully, now more than ever!
    “What am I supposed to do with it?” Lisa demanded.
    “Oh, you’ll think of something. The best thing to do would be to put it back somehow, of course, only that would be tricky,”