"I'm sure it can," agreed Ted, "but anyway, it solves the mystery and clears you girls! Hooray! Hurroo!! Come on, let's go and tell them all."
The two dashed into the Forbes house next door, and found the rest of them down in the drawing room, wondering what had become of Dolly and Ted.
With a beaming face and dancing eyes, Dolly went straight to Mr. Forbes and dangled the bent and twisted earring before his surprised countenance.
"Bless my soul!" he cried, as he saw it. "Did you—where did you find it?"
Dolly realised that he had been about to say, "Did you decide to own up?" or something like that, and she was glad that he changed his sentence.
"Next door!" she exclaimed, for Ted stood back and let her have the pleasure of telling. "That old parrot came and stole it!"
"Oh! the parrot!" cried Mr. Forbes. "Why, of course! I see it all! Why didn't I think of that? Once before, I saw that bird light on my window sill and I shooed him off. Strange I didn't think of that solution!"
"Tell us more!" cried Dotty; "who thought of a parrot? Whose parrot is it? How did he get in? When?"
"Wait a minute, Dot," said Dolly, laughing, "and I'll tell you all about it. You tell some, Ted, I'm all out of breath!"
So Ted told the whole story of their visit to the next house.