“You did everything you could have done,” Bill said to him after Ronnie had told him the story. “Don’t feel bad about it.” Bill went over to sit on the edge of the desk. “So it has been Caldwell all along—and him acting so sweet and nice. You sure, Ronnie?”
Ronnie nodded. “It was him all right. Of course, he looked a little different because he was as wet as a drowned rat.”
“You mean he wasn’t wearing a raincoat—or anything like that?”
“Nope.” It did seem strange, now that Ronnie had time to think about it. Certainly Caldwell would have brought enough clothing with him for all kinds of weather. But hadn’t he seen Caldwell face to face? Raincoat or no raincoat, it was Mr. Caldwell all right! “Well, now what do we do?” he asked Bill.
“Why, just what we planned, of course!” Bill explained. “And maybe we’ve got the jump on Caldwell after all! Because why would he take the ledger from you if he had found the money and glassware, or knew where it was?”
“I see what you mean!” Ronnie exclaimed. “He wouldn’t need the ledger if he was close to finding the money and glassware.”
“Right! He’s probably getting desperate. He saw us with the old book and decided it might contain an answer to what he wanted to know. Maybe he even heard us reading parts of it.”
Ronnie walked over to the window. Streams of water ran down from the roof. The wind was lifting now and the trees were bending under its force. Ronnie turned to face his friend. “Bill, if I hadn’t seen Caldwell face to face, I don’t think I could believe he’s the man who’s been doing all this snooping. And you know, even while he was grabbing me back there on the path, I didn’t think it was him. He just didn’t talk like Caldwell—or act like him either.”
“Well, you never do really know a man until you’ve been around him a good long while—that’s what my pa says.” Bill pulled his raincape over his head. “We’re just wasting time sitting here and talking. Let’s get over to the padlocked building. I brought a flashlight. Did you bring the key?”
Ronnie patted his trouser leg. “Right here in my pocket!” he exclaimed.