already been disposed of through unscrupulous fences and pawnbrokers, but it was certain that the bulk of the Crandall inheritance remained intact.
Mary, studying her victim fixedly, thought she read the girl’s mind.
“Don’t worry, you’ll never get away,” she gloated. “What’s more, you’ll never see those jewels. I was only joking when I said they were hidden in here. Tom has them.”
“She’s lying,” Nancy told herself.
“Five thousand dollars’ worth of the jewels have been sold already,” Mary went on, “and it won’t be hard to get rid of the other diamonds. I intend to live high.”
She strutted across the cabin and preened before a mirror, smoothing out a wrinkle from the silk dress which she wore. In disgust, Nancy again turned her back.
After a few minutes, Mary sat down in a chair and tried to interest herself in an old paper which she found on the table. After reading less than a column, she tossed it down impatiently and went to the window.
Nancy thought that the storm must be steadily increasing in violence, for the motorboat was pitching and tossing on the water like a wild thing. Mary opened the window for an instant, and a sheet of rain and flying skud came through the aperture.
“This is terrible!” the girl muttered.
After pacing up and down the cabin, she again seated herself. Nancy noticed that the color had faded from her face, and guessed the reason.
Presently, Mary buried her head in her hands and gave a little shiver of revulsion.