"Angelo can explain the disappearance of the missing picture," he said suddenly.
"You think so?" returned my uncle.
"I am loath to suspect him, but I cannot help thinking that he carried it off in the night."
"He carried it off well in the morning, then," responded my uncle jocularly. "Who would have thought from his surprise and agitation that he himself had removed it!"
"His surprise and agitation were assumed, to disarm suspicion."
"Perhaps. But what is his motive for the removal?"
"From certain things you have told me, I believe he is determined that neither you nor Frank shall see his great masterpiece."
The Baronet's opinion was one that I had long held.
"Why not, in Heaven's name?" cried my amazed uncle.