"At home at Kencote," replied Joan. "You don't think I brought the necklace away with me, do you?"
Bobby Trench grinned again. "We were talking it over last night," he said. "I think we have seen everybody that was in the house at the time except you, and I said, 'By Jove! I wonder whether Miss Joan noticed anything?' We don't want to leave any stone upturned, so I said I would run down and look you all up. It must be years since I came to Kencote. You were both jolly little kids then."
"I beg your pardon," said Nancy, "we were fifteen. We weren't kids at all."
"I apologise," said Bobby. "Anyhow, I thought it was a chance not to be missed. Now, did you notice anything, Miss Joan? Oh, I forgot; I haven't told you the story yet."
"I think you had better do that first," said Joan.
Bobby Trench then told them the story, and when he came to describe the hiding-place Joan gave an exclamation.
"Is it just where that little Dutch picture hangs?" she asked. "The one with the old woman cleaning a copper pot?"
"Yes. That's the place," said Bobby. "Why? Do you know anything about it?"
Joan's face was serious. "Are you quite sure that Mrs. Amberley took the necklace?" she asked.
"We're about as sure as we could be, unless we had actually seen her doing it. I'll tell you what we have found out afterwards. You didn't see her opening the cupboard by any chance, did you?"