“Right here, in this mill,” was the answer. “I took it out of a hole in the floor last night, right after you had been here. It has some papers in it from the Judson mill.”
Noddy started again. His face was pale, and he trembled. His hands twitched nervously.
“What—what else?” he whispered.
“You might as well tell everything,” said Jerry. “Ned saw you coming from the mill on the night of the robbery with this box under your arm. You said it had fish bait in it. We know how thick you were with Bill Berry, and how he tried to have the blame cast on Ned. And we know something else.”
“What?”
“That you paid a bet to Paul Banner shortly after the robbery.”
“Supposing I did?”
“Just this, we have—or, rather I have—one of the bills you gave to Paul.”
“Well, what of that?” asked Noddy, trying to maintain a brave air.
“Only this. It was a ten dollar bill, issued by a state instead of a national bank, and it had the initials H. R. C. on it in red ink. We have learned that this bill was paid to Mr. Judson on the afternoon before the robbery, that it was placed in the box—this box—that was stolen from the safe.”