He paused again. Caroline did not speak for a moment. Then she asked:
“And no one knew—you or my uncle or anyone—of all this until last March?”
“No. Graves had, with his usual care and patience, pieced together the evidence and investigated until we were sure that a stockholder in the Akrae Company existed and that all of your father’s estate belonged to him. Who that stockholder was we did not know until that day of the meeting at our office. Then Captain Warren told us.”
“But he did not know, either?”
“Not until then. He supposed his Akrae stock worthless, and had practically forgotten it. When we told him of its value, of the note, and of the missing shareholder, he knew, of course.”
“What did he say?”
“Say? Caroline, he was the most distressed and conscience-stricken man in the city. One would have thought he was the wrongdoer and not the wronged. He would have gone straight to you and asked your pardon, if we would have permitted it.”
“But, Mr. Sylvester, now we are coming to the part I cannot understand. Of course the estate belonged to him, I know that. It is his. But why didn’t he tell Steve and me the truth then, at once? Why did he let us believe, and employ you to lead us to believe, that it was not he but someone else? Did he think we would blame him? Why has he—”
“Caroline! Caroline! don’t you understand yet? Do you imagine for one moment that your uncle intends keeping that money?”
She stared at him in utter amazement.