CHAPTER THREE
Proof Before LetterMiss Paxton sank down slowly in her chair. “I can see,” she said, “that you think Iris Vance changed the pictures.”
“If she did, she made money by it—or gave herself a chance to make money. The engraving that hung out there in the hall until—shall we say Sunday evening?”
“I’m sure I looked at it on Saturday morning.”
“That engraving was a proof before letter; which means a proof impression carefully made from the finished plate before the printing of the ordinary issue—” he tapped the glass of the portrait before him—“and before any inscription whatever is added.” He tapped the glass again, lower down. “Title, artist’s name, engraver’s name, date, anything.”
Miss Paxton listened in silence.
“Proof before letter,” continued Gamadge, “is more valuable t
