“But I was absent from the city in Harrisburg,” replied Mr. Wilson, a little hotly. “Did you trace any guilt to me?”
“I merely wrote to Harrisburg, to inquire if a man named Miles Sartain had died and been buried on certain days named, and if one Augustus Wilson had attended the funeral; that is all.”
“You were inquisitive, indeed,” said Wilson, in a light tone. “I was there.”
“Yes. So I have learned. You must remember, sir, that I know nobody in this matter. If I got you in my vise, I would squeeze you as tightly as the meanest man in the store.”
“I hope to keep out of your vise, then,” said Wilson, laughing.
“So, as the case now stands,” said Mr. Leonard, “we have absolutely no clew?”
“We have hold of one or two threads only, but there is nothing visible yet at the ends of them.”
“I have been more fortunate, then. I have found some positive evidence.”
“How is that?” asked Mr. Fitler, quickly. He was at once full of eager attention.
“I have traced a piece of the silk into the possession of a member of my own household. No less a person than my ward, Miss Arlington.”
“Ha!” cried Mr. Wilson, in deep surprise. “How in the world did she obtain it?”
“She had learned my suspicions first, and refused to tell me. There was some one she evidently did not wish to implicate. Remember that I tell you this in confidence. It is to go no further, except as I may direct.”
“Then, why mention it at all, if you are not ready to make use of it?” asked the officer.
“Because I want your suggestions. I will not press her to reveal her secret, but we may guess at it.”
“It is a mighty odd thing. A bit of the silk strayed a’ready into your own house. Was she using it in any way?”
“Then she didn’t fancy there was anything wrong about it. She may have bought it. Is there no other silk of the same pattern in the city?”
“Very odd that she should make a secret of it.”
“Could she have communicated with any person from the store?” asked Mr. Wilson.
“With nobody, I think, except the boy, Will. I sent him out to my house the other day, and he had an interview with her.”
“It is just as I thought. Everything points to that boy,” said Wilson.
“I thought so myself,” said Mr. Leonard. “I expressed my doubts of the boy, and she made no denial.”