It actually might be true. I know when my wife was pregnant, her senses became more sensitive. If this lady was the same way her smelling may have been more sensitive to smells and she was able to smell the pipe smell lingering. Depends on how shut up the china cabinet was. But it's somewhat believable. My wife tells me all the time she can smell my pipes when she walks in the den and I don't smoke in the house. So there can be that lingering affect happening.