"Of course not," said Fenn, "after your absence this morning! You had a fine opportunity to dispose of the jewel!"
"How dare you!" cried Dolly, turning white with rage. "I have told you truthfully where I went and why."
"Let her alone, Fenn," said Mr. Forbes, sharply. "You talk too much.
Run along now, girls; we'll let the matter rest for to-day. I'll
consult with Mr. Fenn, and I don't think we'll search your belongings.
I can't think any one of you has intentionally concealed the jewel.
It's lost but not stolen, that's what I think."
"You dear old thing!" and Bernice impulsively threw her arms around her uncle's neck. "I think you're right. But it must be found!"
"It must be found!" repeated Dolly. "Otherwise suspicion will always rest on me."
"Not on you any more than the rest of us," declared Dotty, "but there's no use in hunting any more in this room. It simply isn't here."
They had searched the room in which the jewel had been kept, thoroughly and repeatedly. So the girls went off to their own rooms to talk it all over again.
"You're too hard on them, Fenn," said Mr. Forbes to his secretary, when they were alone.
"But it's a clear case, sir. That Fayre girl took it. She got scared and tried to run home, then decided it would be better to face the music, so she returned. She's the one, of course. She adores those old trinkets; the others don't care two cents for them. She put it on her dress,—probably she took it off again, but after that the temptation to possess the thing was too strong for her. She thought you'd not miss it, and she carried it off. Then, when she was out this morning, she either threw it away, or secreted it somewhere. Perhaps she took it to some friend for safe keeping."
"I don't believe it, Fenn. I've studied the four girls pretty closely and Dolly Fayre is, I think, the most frank and honest and conscientious of them all. Why, I'd suspect either of my own nieces before I Would Dolly."