“Is this Mr. John Grant?” she asked, trying to make her tone sound business-like.
“Yes,” replied the man.
“I am Mary Louise Gay,” she stated. “The girl who found Miss Mattie Grant’s money for her, you know.”
John Grant did not know; he shook his head. Evidently the story had been suppressed by his mother out of consideration for Harry.
“You didn’t hear about the robbery?” she inquired.
“No. I only know that Aunt Mattie is in the hospital. My sister—Mrs. Pearson—phoned yesterday. But when was she robbed?”
“Can you come out on the porch and talk to me for a few minutes, Mr. Grant?” asked Mary Louise.
“Certainly,” he answered, glancing at his watch. “I have to drive to church for Mother at half-past twelve. But that’s over an hour from now.”
“Thank you, Mr. Grant,” said Mary Louise, as she seated herself in one of the chairs. “I won’t tell you the whole story—it’s too long. But before your aunt went to the hospital, all her money was stolen out of her safe. My chum and I succeeded in getting most of it back—all but a box of gold pieces—and your aunt put the money and her bonds into the bank.
“Then, when she had to go to the hospital so suddenly, she became panic-stricken and made me promise to sleep in her room while she was away. She had something hidden in her room, something valuable, but she wouldn’t tell me what it was. I’d like to find out just what it was.”