As Nancy drove slowly toward home she continued to mull over the facts she had obtained. If only she could correctly interpret the information!
In reviewing everything she knew about Mary, she recalled that when the girl had called at her home to secure work she had appeared earnest enough. Apparently, she had come into her money since that date and had consequently lost her desire for employment.
“The thing that puzzles me is how she happened to get money just about the time of the jewelry robbery,” Nancy mused. “Of course there may be no connection, and again there may be. I remember she seemed startled when I mentioned that my father was a criminal lawyer. It seems to me she wouldn’t have acted that way if she hadn’t been up to something dishonest.”
And yet, in all fairness to Mary Mason, Nancy was forced to admit that in her eagerness to find a clue she was getting the cart before the horse. It was true the girl had refused employment at the Drew household, seemingly because she was afraid of Nancy’s father, but at that time the Crandall jewels had not been stolen. Perhaps her money had been secured from a previous dishonest deal. If such were the case, Nancy, in trying to pin the Crandall robbery upon her, was following another false clue.
“Oh, it’s all a dreadful mess,” Nancy thought in despair. “Every day in every way I’m getting in deeper and deeper.”