“Looking for me? Oh, you mean Colonel Ashley wanted some information about certain business matters. Well, I didn't see that I owed him any explanation about private matters between Mr. Carwell and myself, so I didn't answer.
“You know what the imputation is, Gerry?” questioned Bartlett, as each man sat in his car, near a lonely stretch of woods.
“I don't know that I do,” was the calm reply.
“Well, Viola has told me of the finding of the papers in her father's private safe. I told her I would see you, if I could, and get an explanation. I did not think I would find you so soon.”
“I didn't know you were looking, Harry, or I would have come to you. What do you mean about papers in a private safe?”
“I mean those which indicate that Mr. Carwell owed you fifteen thousand dollars.”
“Well, he did owe me that,” said the captain calmly.
“He did?” and Harry Bartlett accented the last word.
“Yes, but it was paid. He did not owe me a dollar at the time of his death.”
“That is astonishing news! There is no record of the money having been paid!”