“Where did you get this?” he exclaimed.
“From Thaddeus Westcott.”
“Ah, yes. Your uncle must have left it with him.”
“He did leave it with him. To keep until he returned. Or” — Bob felt that a lie would help the story — “to give to his heir if he did not return.”
THE explanation suited Zachary Mitchell. He did not know that Westcott had simply given the paper to Bob because he did not know what else to do with it.
Bob maintained his silence. He made no mention of the fact that this paper was a duplicate of the one which Reynold Barker had found in Theodore Galvin’s secret drawer.
Zachary Mitchell was chuckling. His eyes beamed as he studied the paper before him.
“Your uncle was right,” he declared. “He said that I would understand. I do understand. Simple, now — but I would never have guessed.”
“You can solve the code?” questioned Bob, eagerly.
“What code?”