“Thanks—I intended to.” Mrs. Lawson threw a grim smile at her husband and turned to Dorothy. “Pass it over, Janet.”
“But, really, Mrs. Lawson! I don’t know what you’re talking about—”
The woman cut her short. “Stand up and come here!”
Dorothy reluctantly obeyed. “I haven’t any paper,” she protested. “All I know is that I woke up just now and found Mr. Lawson—”
“Hold your tongue!” snapped Mrs. Lawson, and after exploring Dorothy’s empty pockets, ran her fingers over the quilted gown and the girl’s pajamas. In the midst of her search, Professor, still playful, bounded into the room and stood watching them expectantly.
Mrs. Lawson stepped back. “She hasn’t got it, Martin.” Her tone was acid. “What a hard-boiled liar you are, anyway!”
“Hard-boiled, if you like—but no liar.” He strode to the safe and thrust his hand inside. “Here it is,” he called, and held up the paper. “I must have got here before she could nab it.”
Laura Lawson eyed him appraisingly. “Didn’t you say Janet was in the middle of the room when you switched on the light?”
“Sure—she heard me coming, of course.”
“If Janet heard you coming, why didn’t she swing the door shut? Don’t try to pull that stuff on me, Martin. Even if the girl knows the combination she couldn’t open that safe in the dark. Why lie about the business? I know you opened it yourself—and what’s more, while I’ve been wasting time arguing with you and searching Janet, the formula was in your pocket the whole time—that is, until you pretended to take it out of the safe, just now!”