Sally swung around on Edmonds. “You have come here for money? You may as well tell me. I won’t leave you with Gregory until you do.”
It was quite evident that she would make her promise good, and Edmonds nodded.
“Yes,” he said, “about three thousand dollars.”
“And Gregory can’t pay you?”
Edmonds thought rapidly, and decided to take a bold course. He was acquainted with Hawtrey’s habit of putting things off, and fancied that his debtor would seize upon the first loophole of escape from an embarrassing situation. That was why he gave him a lead.
“Well,” he said, “there is a way in which he could do it if he wished. He has only to fill in a paper and hand it to me.”
Edmonds had not sufficiently counted on Sally’s knowledge of his victim’s affairs, or her quickness of wit, for she turned to Hawtrey with a commanding gesture.
“Where are you going to get three thousand dollars from?” she asked.
The blood rushed into Hawtrey’s face, for this was a thing he could not tell her; but a swift suspicion, flashed into her mind as she looked at him.
“Perhaps it could be—raised,” he answered.