Weiss and Littleson exchanged quick glances.
"Show her in at once," Weiss ordered. "What do you suppose this means?" he asked, turning to Littleson.
The young man had no time to reply. Almost immediately Virginia was ushered into the office. She was very pale, and there were dark lines under her eyes. Stephen Weiss rose at once, and Littleson hastened to offer her a chair, but she took no notice. They could see that she was agitated, and she seemed to find some difficulty in commencing what she had to say.
"What can I have the pleasure of doing for you, Miss Longworth?" Weiss asked. "I hope that you have come to tell me—"
"I have come to tell you that you are both thieves!" she interrupted.
"If you do not give me back that paper, I don't care what my uncle says,
I shall go to the police station."
The men exchanged swift glances. Littleson suddenly started. He drew
Weiss on one side.
"Stella has got it," he whispered, in a tone of triumph. "Get rid of this girl easily. That is what she must mean."
Weiss turned round and faced her.
"My dear Miss Longworth," he said, "a thief I would have been if I could have found the chance, and a thief I would have made of you if you would have stolen that paper for me, because I considered that it belonged to us, and we had a moral right to take it. But the fact remains that we have not got it. When I heard your name announced I hoped that you had brought it to us."
"You have not got it!" she repeated contemptuously.