"Do you suspect any one of having stolen the keys?" I asked.
"I know, of course, that Dorothy did it. Who her accomplices were, if any she had, I do not know. I have catechized the servants, but the question is bottomless to me."
"Have you spoken to Dorothy on the subject?" I asked.
"No," he replied, "but I have sent word to her by the Faxton girl that I am going to see her at once. Come with me."
We went into Lady Crawford's room. She was ill and in bed. I did not wonder that she was ill after the experiences of the previous night. Sir George asked her if she had heard or seen Dorothy pass through her room during the night. She said:—
"Dorothy did not pass through this room last night. I did not once close my eyes in sleep, and I should have seen her had she been here at all."
Sir George entered Dorothy's bedroom, and Lady Crawford beckoned me to go to her side.
"I waited till sunrise," she said, "that I might draw up the keys."
"Hush!" said I, "the cord?"
"I burned it," she replied.