He said nothing to the folks at home about what had happened that afternoon, as he did not want his mother and aunt to needlessly worry. Yet, Tom was beginning to feel more and more that he should tell some one his suspicions regarding Mr. Cutler and Barton Sandow.
Tom had a chance to speak of his suspicions the following day. When he was at the switchboard he heard some one ask for Mr. Cutler, and he made the connection. He recognized the voice. It was that of the man who had often spoken before to the junior partner, and this unseen man, Tom decided, was Barton Sandow.
The message was a brief one, and, under the circumstances Tom felt justified in listening to it.
“I will call you up there to-night,” said the person whom the telephone boy believed was the rascally brother-in-law of Dr. Spidderkins.
“I’ll be here,” replied Mr. Cutler. “Make it about midnight, and we’ll not be disturbed, and no fresh central girl will listen to our talk. Get the rest of the papers to-day, and we’ll wind up the matter.”
“So, the game is almost over,” mused Tom, as he pulled out the plugs, for the two had finished talking. “I think I had now better tell Mr. Boise my suspicions.”
He did so after office hours that afternoon, when the senior partner was alone in his room, and the clerks had gone home. Tom related the incident of the first mysterious message he had heard, how Barton Sandow had tried to make him believe it was of no importance, and how he had seen Sandow and the junior partner in consultation one night at the office.
“And you think they are trying to swindle Dr. Spidderkins out of his estate?” asked Mr. Boise thoughtfully.
“That is my suspicion. And I think that Mr. Crawford Leeth is also mixed up in it. I saw Sandow at his office one night.”
“Perhaps you are right, Tom. It is not a very nice thing to have to confess, but I have, for some time, been suspicious of Mr. Cutler. I am sorry I admitted him to partnership in our firm. He was a sharp young lawyer, and I thought he would do good work, but he seems constantly planning and scheming. I think he knows more about the leak regarding the Kendall suit than he would be willing to admit.”