“About to-night? Why, it was one of your own pet schemes, wasn’t it, Bundy—all worked out quite a while ago? That’s how I knew! Well, am I right about the reason for you being here alone? And, if so, how did you propose to square yourself with your cronies of the underworld?”
“By coming back here with the Cadger and Gannet, of course,” he replied curtly, “and letting them fall for the idea that someone had beaten us all to it.”
“Yes,” she said calmly. “Well, I quite approve, Bundy. And I’ll take that envelope now, please! You won’t have any further use for it, and I’ll attend to the rest of this affair.”
He handed her the envelope. He asked nothing better than that she should assume any further responsibility that might be connected with its contents. As far as he was concerned there were matters of far greater moment now. There was the Man with the Crutch! And that was a matter in which he had very cogent reasons for desiring to play a lone hand. His lips tightened. It was fairly evident that she had not been in the house the first time he had entered but he wanted to be sure.
“When did you get in here?” he snapped. “Followed me, I suppose!”
“About five minutes ago,” she said quietly. “And you left the door unlocked—though I had a key. No, I didn’t follow you! Why should I? I knew that you would be here at nine o’clock anyway, and I simply came a little ahead of time. I really hoped, you see, that you would do the same—and for more reasons than the one I have just mentioned.”
“I haven’t seen you since last night, you know,” she said deliberately. “What about the diamonds that were stolen from Vetter?”
“_Vetter_ hasn’t!” There was a cold, unpleasant inflection in her voice.
“Well, what do you expect!” He forced a raucous note into his voice. He was not sure that it sounded genuine. It was not easy to play the Rat with her! “Think it over! It’s not so soft a job to get them back to him without leaving a trail behind that might trip me up! See?”
She appeared to consider this for a moment.
“That is true,” she said at last. “Well, have you got them here?”
“Yes.” He reached into his pocket and took out the chamois pocketbook. He laughed brusquely, as he held it out to her. “If you can handle that envelope, maybe you can handle the sparklers, too!”