“I understand,” she said, in a low tone, “how it must seem to you to hear me say such a thing about Mr. Parlmee. I have trusted him. I believed in him, even when my father was losing faith and confidence. I clung to my own faith, and it hasn’t been easy to abandon it, even in the face of proof. My conscience or something taunts me occasionally. I–I’ve cried over it, and I’ve fought against it. I haven’t dared see him since my return–since I found out the truth–for I knew I should listen to him and believe in him in spite of everything. I wanted to face him and accuse him, but Weegman persuaded me to wait. He said it would merely hasten the crash if we let the scoundrels know they were suspected.”
“The scoundrels!” exclaimed Locke. “Then he told you that more than one was concerned?”
“He claims that a man named Garrity is operating in conjunction with Franklin Parlmee.”
Another staggerer. To Virginia, Weegman had accused Garrity. Mutely the southpaw appealed to Stillman. The reporter’s forehead was puckered in a puzzled manner; he caught Lefty’s glance, and shook his head slowly.
“When did he name Garrity, Miss Collier?” he asked.
“When he called on me to-day–this afternoon,” was the answer. “He has been at work trying to get at the truth.”
Locke improved the opportunity to whisper in Janet’s ear: “Keep still! Don’t say a word–now.”
Although she did not understand why he wished her to keep silent, she nodded. He had been right in other matters; it was best to let him have his way in this.
“My niece has been very much upset,” said Mrs. Vanderpool. “It has practically made her ill. She hasn’t felt much like seeing people, and therefore Mr. Weegman’s advice to keep quiet was easy to follow.”
Weegman had urged Virginia to remain in obscurity, not to let her friends know she was in New York; that was evident. He had convinced her that by doing so she could best assist him in his pretended task of trapping the conspirators. And while she kept quiet, those conspirators were hastening to carry through the work they had planned.