“And after your father had purchased this book of formulas it was stolen from him?”
“Yes. He brought it home with him and would have placed it in a safe deposit vault, but took it home for the purpose of making a duplicate copy. Of course, he didn’t want to trust any outsiders with the secret just yet; so he started in to make the copy himself.”
“Then the book was stolen?”
“Exactly! It disappeared one night. He had left it locked up in his desk, and when he went for it the next day he found that his desk had been broken open and that the valuable book of formulas had disappeared.”
“What of the copy he had been making?”
“That had disappeared also.”
“Gracious! No wonder he was upset, Ruth. Thirty thousand dollars is no mean price to pay for a thing and then have it stolen. Did he suspect anybody?”
“There was nobody to suspect. Our maid had left our employ about a week before and gone to live with a family in Philadelphia. There was nobody at home but my mother and my father, for mother had not yet succeeded in getting another maid.”
“But wasn’t there any trace of the thief?”