“Yes,” Milly replied hesitatingly.
“Why didn’t you say so before?”
“There didn’t seem to be any necessity of telling of it,” Milly replied.
“You thought it might throw suspicion on me?”
“Oh, no,” Milly disclaimed. “No one could suspect you, Winnie, or Professor Waite, either; the ideas are equally absurd.”
“Unless it is proved that the robbery was committed before Professor Waite came up the stairs, it may not seem at all absurd to Mr. Mudge,” Winnie continued mercilessly. “Tib and I saw him examining the door into the studio, and he seemed possessed with the idea that the burglar entered the room from the studio. I know, too, that Mr. Mudge examined Professor Waite’s tool chest in the studio, and that he found the broken lock in it, with a screw-driver and other tools, showing that Professor Waite had been tinkering with the door, trying unsuccessfully to mend the lock, as we all know.”
“You know this! How did you find it out?” Adelaide asked, and Winnie replied:
“Professor Waite wanted to use his screw-driver and went to his tool chest after it during the painting lesson to-day. It was gone; so was the lock to the door. He hunted everywhere, and told me that he was afraid that Miss Noakes had been in his studio and had discovered the broken lock, and that we would be called in question for that old scrape. I felt sure from the first that it was Mr. Mudge, but I did not mention him, for Madame told us to say nothing about the robbery outside of our own circle.”
“I would do anything to keep Professor Waite out of trouble,” Milly said. “I am the only one who knows that he was in the studio, and I will not tell.”
“Nothing will help Professor Waite so much as the entire truth,” Winnie replied. “Of course he is not the one who took the money. If the person really responsible can be discovered, or will confess, the Professor and all other innocent persons will be cleared from suspicion.”