“The old man may know who took the Talisman,” he suggested to himself. “If that’s so, then perhaps he means to put the screw on the culprit quietly, without saying anything to the rest of us. Most obviously he doesn’t want a scandal at Friocksheim. But in that case he must have spotted the wrong ’un immediately; because, first thing in the morning, he was quite certain that the Talisman would turn up again—he wasn’t worried in the slightest degree. If he tracked down the thief between one a.m. and breakfast-time, it was a lightning bit of detective work. But if it wasn’t a case of detection, then the only possible explanation is that he actually saw the theft committed.”
Westenhanger paused only for a moment on this idea, however, for its inherent improbability struck him at once.
“That’s no good. If he’d caught the thief in the act, he’d simply have threatened to expose him; got the Talisman back from him, and replaced it in its cabinet without giving rise to all this trouble.”
Then a new thought occurred to him.
“But suppose old Rollo couldn’t trust the thief not to have a second try, with better luck the second shot? That’s a possibility. If I’d been in old Rollo’s shoes under these conditions I think I’d have pocketed the Talisman and kept it safe until that particular guest’s visit was up. Then he could put it back in the cabinet with a comfortable mind. That’s a possibility, too, and Wraxall might fit the case.”
But here again his knowledge would hardly fit the hypothesis.
“No, that won’t work, either,” he admitted to himself. “Old Rollo’s a chivalrous old bird. He knows Miss Cressage is under suspicion now—Freddie’s sure to have let that leak out. If the old man knew the identity of the thief he certainly wouldn’t stand aside and let the girl bear the brunt of things for a moment, I’m sure. . . . Wraxall isn’t even a friend of the Dangerfields; he’s the merest casual caller, so far as they’re concerned. There’s no reason why they should shield him.”
He cudgelled his brain for another alternative hypothesis.
“Suppose the old man didn’t spot the thief, but managed somehow to discover where the Talisman was hidden after it was stolen. He may be keeping a watch on the hiding-place, waiting for the thief to give himself away by going after the thing at last.”
He brooded for a time on the various ideas he had evolved; but in the end he put them all aside.