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Page 39
"Did her husband come back?"
"No, not to my knowledge."
"And where is she now?"
"Very near you, Miss Saunders, when you are at your home in
Franklin Street. Not being able to obtain a situation in the house
itself, she has rented the little shop opposite, where you can find
her any day selling needles and thread."
"I have noticed that shop," I admitted, not knowing whether to give
more or less weight to my suspicions in thus finding the mayor's
house under the continued gaze of another watchful eye.
"You will find two women there," the amiable Mr. Robinson hastened
to explain. "The one with a dark red spot just under her hair is
Bess. But perhaps she doesn't interest you. She always has me.
If it had not been for one fact, I should have suspected her of
having been in some way connected with the strange doings we have
just been considering. She was not a member of the household
during the occupancy of Mrs. Crispin and the Westons, yet these
unusual manifestations went on just the same."
"Yes, I noted that."
"So her connivance is eliminated."
"Undoubtedly. I am still disposed to credit the Misses Quinlan
with the whole ridiculous business. They could not bear to see
strangers in the house they had once called their own, and took the
only means suggested to their crazy old minds to rid the place of
them."
Mr. Robinson shook his head, evidently unconvinced. The temptation
was great to strengthen my side of the argument by a revelation of
their real motive. Once acquainted with the story of the missing
bonds he could not fail to see the extreme probability that the two
sisters, afflicted as they were with dementia, should wish to
protect the wealth which was once so near their grasp, from the
possibility of discovery by a stranger. But I dared not take him
quite yet into my full confidence. Indeed, the situation did not
demand it. I had learned from him what I was most anxious to know,
and was now in a position to forward my own projects without
further aid from him. Almost as if he had read my thoughts, Mr.
Robinson now hastened to remark:
"I find it difficult to credit these poor old souls with any such
elaborate plan to empty the house, even had they possessed the most
direct means of doing so, for no better reason than this one you
state. Had money been somehow involved, or had they even thought
so, it would be different. They are a little touched in the head
on the subject of money; which isn't very strange considering their
present straits. They even show an interest in other people's
money. They have asked me more than once if any of their former
neighbors have seemed to grow more prosperous since leaving
Franklin Street."
"I see; touched, touched!" I laughed, rising in my anxiety to hide
any show of feeling at the directness of this purely accidental
attack. But the item struck me as an important one. Mr. Robinson
gave me a keen look as I uttered the usual commonplaces and
prepared to take my leave.
"May I ask your intentions in this matter?" said he.
"I wish I knew them myself," was my perfectly candid answer. "It
strikes me now that my first step should be to ascertain whether
there exists any secret connection between the two houses which
would enable the Misses Quinlan or their emissaries to gain access
to their old home, without ready detection. I know of none, and--"
"There is none," broke in its now emphatic agent. "A half-dozen
tenants, to say nothing of Mr. Searles himself, have looked it
carefully over. All the walls are intact; there is absolutely no
opening anywhere for surreptitious access."
"Possibly not. You certainly discourage me very much. I had hoped
much from my theory. But we are not done with the matter. Mrs.
Packard's mind must be cleared of its fancies, if it is in my power
to do it. You will hear from me again, Mr. Robinson. Meanwhile,
I may be sure of your good will?"
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