She got him loose from the clothes, looked at them, then decided to stuff them down the oubliette... she could pay Etta Schere for the loss of them later and she did not want cops finding them here - just in case. "But you are going to have to have a bath, my good man, before I dress you in Ben's clean clothes.  They've been neglecting you.  Come along." Being a nurse, she was inured to bad odors, but (being a nurse) she was fanatic about soap and water... and it seemed to her that no one had bothered to bathe this patient recently.  While Smith did not exactly stink, he did remind her of a horse on a hot day.  Soap suds were indicated.