"I did," was the reply. "Wait until Judge sees the page I took. Wait until he hears what was on the other sheet!"
Ferret was chuckling as they reached a car which they had parked some blocks from Roland Delmar's home. He had done this job as well as Judge himself could have done it. Roland Delmar was dead — and the written sheet upon his desk would bear testimony to the evidence that the old banker had slain himself.
More than that, it seemed to place the blame for the troubles of the County National Bank upon some unknown member of his own organization!
Chapter XI — The Bank Crash
The Middletown newspapers were splashed with glaring headlines. Sensational developments in the affairs of the County National Bank were of tremendous importance in the entire region. On the same night that Roland Delmar, the president of the institution, had committed suicide, Hubert Salisbury, the chief cashier, had slain the investigator who was seeking to learn the cause of disappearing funds.
The link between the actions of the president and the teller was found in Delmar's note.
That sentence, "It may be that the County National Bank has been robbed by some employee in whom we have placed mistaken trust," was damning in itself.
The fact that Delmar's statement added that Salisbury was working with Wellington was taken as further proof of Salisbury's falsity.
It seemed obvious that Salisbury had slain Wellington, because the investigator knew too much. The very circumstances of the killing bore that out. Salisbury's story was thin; yet he persisted in it. The local police were quizzing him, and were doing their best trying to break down his statement. It seemed doubtful that Salisbury had premeditated his crime. More than likely, Wellington had mentioned something that had shown Salisbury his thefts would be uncovered if the investigator remained alive. So he had slain Wellington in cold blood.
The startling revelation that the County National had lost a large amount of money, brought a surge of excited depositors to the doors of the bank and all its branches. The bank officials declared that the institution was sound, and could meet its obligations; but under the circumstances, they could gain no financial aid in time to avert the run.