“I didn’t know you had progressed as far as a theory, Nancy.”
“Probably it would be more accurate to use the word suspicion instead of theory. This morning I happened to make a little discovery of my own.”
Nancy then proceeded to relate what she had learned in Dockville concerning Mary Mason. Mr. Drew listened intently until she had finished.
“I must agree that it does look very queer when a poverty-stricken domestic buys expensive gowns from the best stores in town,” he said quietly. “Of course that fact alone isn’t enough to definitely connect her with this robbery.”
“No, but it’s a clue, don’t you think?”
“Perhaps. It won’t do any harm to keep your eye on her.”
“I intend to do that, and I want to find out everything I can about her. And Viola Granger may be the guilty person after all.”
“I never saw a case which had so many loose ends.”
“Nor did I! This afternoon I felt so encouraged. I thought I’d stumbled on to something that had a bearing on the case, and now I’m not so sure.”
“Don’t get discouraged,” Mr. Drew said kindly. “After all, there may be something in what you have discovered. Perhaps Mary Mason herself knows something and someone is paying her to keep silent. There’s that angle. You’re certain, I presume, that there can be no mistake about her buying all of those expensive clothes?”
“I’m certain that seven boxes were delivered to her, for I saw them with my own eyes. Of course I can’t swear as to what was in them or the cost