Miss Grant closed her eyes.
“It wasn’t common burglars,” she said.
Mary Louise started. Did Miss Grant believe in Hannah’s theory about the ghosts?
“You don’t mean——?”
“I don’t know what I mean,” answered the old lady. “Somebody—living or dead—is trying to get hold of something very precious to me.”
“What is it, Miss Grant?” demanded Mary Louise eagerly. Oh, perhaps now she was getting close to the real mystery at Dark Cedars! For that petty theft by Corinne Pearson was only a side issue, she felt sure.
The old lady shook her head.
“I can’t tell—even you, Mary Louise! Nobody!”
“Then how can I help you?”
“You can watch Elsie and try to find out where she hid my box of gold pieces. You can keep your eye open for trouble at night—and let me know if anything happens.... Will you do it, Mary Louise?”