"You speak as though you did," he retorted and went on with his sorting. "Has anything been heard of her?"
"Nothing. I found my motor car in the field; but the lady has vanished."
"Don't you think," Striver raised himself up to ask this question, "that she could be traced by means of that white cloak?"
I shrugged in my turn and fenced, as I was not going to admit the truth. "I daresay the cloak was noticeable enough. All the same, she has not been traced. Now, she never will be. I should not be surprised if the police gave up the case."
The young man rose quickly. "No," he said promptly, "I intend to offer a reward."
"Ah! You wish to have this lady hanged."
"If she is guilty, why not?" he asked bluntly, "But if you will have the truth, Mr. Vance, I don't care either one way or the other about a possible hanging. I want to find the glass eye."
"And you think the lady has it?"
"I--I--I suppose so," he muttered in a hesitating manner, then burst out: "Yes, indeed, I do want to find the glass eye. There's a fortune connected with it, Mr. Vance--a large fortune."
"Oh!" I could not help betraying surprise. "So this was why Mrs. Caldershaw attached such value to it?"