"If he did he came back again. Of course, I did not speak to him. But I am not likely to make a mistake in identifying him, wherever I see him. And he couldn't have got out of town after I saw him, come to think of it, until this morning. Not by train; for there are no trains in either direction after the time I saw him. That's sure."
"That is strange," murmured Lorna. "I am sure the family thought he had gone——"
She noted the oddly curious gaze Degger had fixed upon her face, and she halted. She felt uncomfortable. She wondered what it meant—this odd performance of Ralph's. She wished Jackson would return to the car. But somebody did break away from the excited crowd before the bank and cross the wide thoroughfare toward the automobile.
Ezra Crouch's bald face shone with curiosity and his glance shifted from Degger to the girl in the car. The tale that Degger himself had told about town, implicating Lorna Nicholet and Ralph Endicott, had been a choice morsel under Ezra's tongue. He thought the present situation pregnant of further gossip.
"He, he! Ain't this a queer set-to?" he wanted to know. "Those folks that have lost money think they can talk it back into their pockets. I can tell 'em——"
"Haven't they any idea who the burglars were, Mr. Crouch?" interposed Lorna.
"Not the fust idee. 'Nless it's Tobias. Tobias is sharp. He's found the only clue, as they call it, that's been found so far. But that Arad Thompson——"
"What has the skipper found, Ezra?" asked Degger, lighting another cigarette.
"A gold knife. Found it right under that winder where the burglars sawed through the bars."
"A gold knife!" repeated Lorna with interest. "They surely did not use such a tool to cut the window bars?"