"To a considerable extent," added Joseph.
"And—unsuccessfully?" inquired the Earl.
"We are not yet quite sure of the details," answered Gabriel. "The mere fact is enough. Of course, no man in his position has any right to speculate. Had we known that he speculated——"
"He would have been discharged from our service," said Joseph. "No banker can retain the services of a manager who—gambles."
The Earl began to feel almost as uncomfortable as if these two men were charging him with improper transactions. He was a man of simple mind and ideas, and he supposed the Chestermarkes knew what they were talking about.
"Then you think that this sudden disappearance——" he said.
"In the history of banking—unwritten, possibly," remarked Joseph, "there are many similar instances. No end of them, most likely. Bank managers enjoy vast opportunities of stealing, my lord! And the man who is best trusted has more opportunities than the man who's watched. We never suspected—and so we never watched."
"You have heard of the stranger who came to the town on Saturday night, and is believed to have telephoned from the Station Hotel to Horbury?" asked the Earl. "What of him?"
"We have heard," answered Gabriel. "We don't know any more. We don't know any such person—from the description. But we have no doubt he did meet Horbury—and that his visit had something—probably everything—to do with Horbury's disappearance."
"But how could he disappear?" asked the Earl. "I mean to say—how could such a well-known man disappear so completely, without anybody knowing of it? It seems impossible!"