“Afraid of a girl!” Mary returned scornfully. “It was probably your imagination anyway.”
“Tom may be right,” Bud interposed. “I hear the detectives are getting pretty active—especially that girl of Carson Drew’s.”
“How I hate her!” Mary spit out vehemently. “She always sticks her nose into business that doesn’t concern her. Well, she’d better not come fooling around me!”
“The quicker I get out of this town the safer I’ll feel,” Bud said uneasily.
“Before we stir from this house we’re going to have an understanding about shares,” Mary replied firmly. She turned to Tom Tozzle. “What did you do with the jewels you took with you to Winchester?”
“I put ’em back in the secret compartment of the boat. I’d ’ve pawned ’em, but I was afraid to after that girl followed me.”
“Have we enough money to make our getaway?”
“Sure! That last jewel brought a tidy sum. The money we got from it ought to take us a long way from here. Everything’s settled except how we’re to divide.”
“Why worry about that now?” Bud demanded. “As long as most of the jewels haven’t been converted into cash—”
“I’ll not stir a step until it’s definitely understood that we’re to share equally!” Mary interrupted angrily. “Why, I’m the one that should have two-thirds and not Tom Tozzle! If it hadn’t been for me, you two wouldn’t have known about the jewels.”
“You sort of stumbled on to ’em accidently yourself,” Tom reminded her unpleasantly.