"Dear papa," said Gertrude, who was perched on the arm of his chair, "don't talk about the matter, as I see it agitates you greatly."
I glanced at her when she said this, as it struck me that if she was the woman who had taken my car, she naturally would not like the matter to be spoken about. But she appeared to be perfectly calm, and her color did not change when our eyes met. Mr. Monk was far more discomposed than she was. "My dear," he said in answer to her remonstrance, "I must steel myself to hear all about our old servant--at least about Gabriel's old servant. Where, I ask again, is the mystery?"
"In the fact that Mrs. Caldershaw's glass eye was stolen," I asserted.
"Well," admitted Mr. Monk reluctantly, "that is a strange article to steal I agree. Do you know why it was stolen, Mr. Vance?"
"What is your theory?" he pursued eagerly.
"Your late brother left fifty thousand pounds to Miss Monk here," I explained, "and that money cannot be found. I believe that Mrs. Caldershaw in some way knew of the whereabouts of this fortune and indicated the hiding-place in some way by means of the glass eye. It was stolen by the person who desired to gain that fortune."
"Dear me." Mr. Monk sat up briskly, and then rose to his feet, "have you any grounds for this strange belief?"
"There may be something in the idea," admitted Gertrude cautiously, "it may be worth Mr. Vance's while to search the matter out. I admit that I should be glad if he could find the money."
If she was the woman who had taken the car, this speech was strangely daring, and while she made it, her eyes were fixed very straightly on mine. In fact, it was my eyes that fell first before hers. I must say that she puzzled me, in the face of what I knew, and more than ever I regretted the inopportune entrance of Mr. Monk, when she had been on the eve of making an explanation, which might have solved the mystery of her behavior.
"Yes, yes," said Mr. Monk, trotting up and down the room, "I should be glad of the money myself," and again I noted that in his selfishness he did not appear to remember that his daughter owned the missing fortune, "well, well, well, well, well, it is a strange theory, and--if you will pardon my saying so, Mr. Vance--somewhat incredible."