“My mother was so happy that we thought she’d dance forever. She wanted to pay Mr. Grant for the expense, but he was such a generous man he wouldn’t hear of it. So my mother gave him the ruby necklace to keep for her and said she’d be back every summer to see it. If ever Mr. Grant needed money, he was to borrow on it.
“He promised to keep it safe for her, but he never thought of it as his. Each summer we came back and camped on his place—we were always welcome while he lived—and each year we saw the necklace, and he would ask us whether we wanted to take it back. But we said no, because it was safer there, and he was our friend, and we trusted him.
“And then one summer we came back, and old Mr. Grant was gone. Dead. So we tried to tell Miss Mattie Grant about the necklace, but she shut the door in our faces and called the police. For years we couldn’t even come out of Cooper’s woods without meeting a policeman.
“Then my mother died, and my brother died, and I decided I was going to get that necklace back. So this year we came and camped in those woods, and every night I went over to Dark Cedars. Sometimes I’d sneak in while they were eating supper; sometimes I’d climb in a window with a ladder late at night. I began in the attic and went through each room, searching for the necklace.
“The first time I got into Mattie Grant’s room—it was one evening last week, while they were eating supper—I opened that safe of hers. I was sure the necklace would be there. But it wasn’t. I was so mad that I took that box of gold, although I hadn’t stolen anything out of her house before that.”
While the woman paused for breath, Mary Louise recalled the evening of the theft of Miss Grant’s money. This, then, was the explanation of the open safe, from which Corinne Pearson had taken the bills. And it proved, too, that Harry Grant had been innocent of any part in the actual theft.
The gypsy woman continued her story:
“It was you, miss, who gave me the information I wanted, the day you girls and boys had your fortunes told. You told me old Mattie asked you to sleep in her bed while she was away. So I knew that the necklace must be hidden in the mattress....
“You know the rest. I went to Dark Cedars while you were still at your picnic, and I thought I’d get the necklace before you came home. But you surprised me, and I had to hide in the closet while you got ready for bed.... I—I—didn’t want to hurt you! I only wanted what belonged to me!”
Tears were running out of the woman’s eyes, and she rubbed her hands together in anguish, as if she were imploring Mary Louise for mercy.