“I’ve accomplished something, I believe,” returned Phoebe with an air of satisfaction. “Here are my present conclusions, all written out.”
Before she read the paper, however, she related to Judith her visit to Toby Clark and to Will Chandler. Then, slowly and deliberately, she began to read.
Judith listened in some surprise, for she was astonished by the girl’s shrewdness in analyzing human character. Phoebe had struggled to be perfectly unprejudiced and impersonal in jotting down her items, but more than once the Little Mother had to repress a smile at some inconsistent hypothesis. Yet there was cleverness and a degree of logic in the entire summary.
“You see,” concluded the girl, folding the paper carefully for future reference, “we must seek the criminal among these five persons.”
“Why, dear?”
“Because, being aware of Judge Ferguson’s life and habits and of about all that goes on in this village, I find them the only ones who knew of the box, were able to get hold of it, or might for some reason or other be tempted to steal it. Don’t you agree with me, Cousin Judith?”
“Not entirely, Phoebe. I do not think any stretch of the imagination could connect Mr. Spaythe with the crime, or even Will Chandler. From their very natures, their antecedents and standing in Riverdale, such a connection is impossible.”
“Improbable, I admit, Cousin; but nothing is impossible.”
“On the other hand,” continued Judith, “you have a strong argument in favor of suspecting Mr. Holbrook. I myself have thought of him as the possible perpetrator of the crime, but have been almost ashamed to harbor such a thought. I have never seen the man, you know; but I wish we knew something of his past history.”
“How about Mrs. Miller?”