"I admire your perseverance," said Mr. Forbes, "but I can't hope it will be rewarded. It isn't as if we were hunting for a thing that somebody had purposely concealed, that would mean an exhaustive search. But we're looking for something merely mislaid or tossed aside, and if we find it, it will be in some exposed place, not cleverly hidden."
"Oh, I don't know, Uncle Jeff," said Bernice, "you know when Alicia's photograph slipped behind the mantel, that was deeply hidden, although not purposely."
"Yes, that's so," and Uncle Jeff looked questioningly from one girl to another.
It was impossible to ignore the fact that he deemed one of them responsible for the disappearance of the jewel, and until the matter was cleared up, all felt under suspicion. Fenn, too, was studying the four young faces, as if to detect signs of guilt in one of them.
At last he said, "Let us get at this systematically. Who took the earring first, when Mr. Forbes handed it out from the case?"
"I did," said Dotty, promptly. "I stood nearest to Mr. Forbes and he handed it to me. After I looked at it, I passed it to Alicia."
"No, you didn't," contradicted Alicia. "I didn't touch it."
"Why, yes, 'Licia," Dotty persisted, "you took it and said—"
"I tell you I didn't! I never handled the things at all! It was
Bernice."
"I did have it in my hands," said Bernice, reflectively, "but I can't remember whether I took it from Dot or Alicia."