"The thief must have dropped it," Penny declared. "Are the pearls gone?"
"I haven't even looked yet," Amy admitted.
She offered the beaded bag to Penny who promptly turned it inside out. Save for a compact and a handkerchief the purse was empty.
"The pearls are missing all right," Cron commented, looking half-accusingly at Amy.
"Don't you dare suggest I had anything to do with it!" the girl cried furiously. "Mrs. Dillon will tell you that Penny and I were only trying to help!"
"I don't know anything about the pearls," Cron replied cuttingly, "but I intend to turn you over to the police for questioning in regard to the stolen painting."
Penny turned blazing eyes upon the art critic.
"Before you do that, Mr. Cron, you might explain to Miss Coulter why you are copying her statue!"
Darting across the room, she snatched off the cloth which covered the sculptor's work.
"Why, it's my Black Imp!" Amy cried in surprise. "You've reproduced it in every detail!"