“So do I,” said Maggie, in an icy tone; “still, I don’t mean to make a fuss.”
“But where was your purse, Maggie dear?” asked Nancy Banister; “was it in your pocket?”
“No. I found it last night in my bureau, under some books and papers.” Maggie rose from the table as she spoke. With a swift flash her brown eyes sought Priscilla’s face; she had not meant to look at her, she did not want to; but a fascination she could not control obliged her to dart this one glance of inquiry.
Prissie’s eyes met hers. Their expression was anxious, puzzled, but there was not a trace of guilt or confusion in them. “I don’t know how that money could have been taken, Maggie,” she said, “for I was in your room studying my Greek.” Prissie sighed when she mentioned her Greek. “I was in your room studying Greek all the evening; no one could have come to take the money.”
“It is gone, however,” said Maggie. She spoke with new cheerfulness. The look on Prissie’s face, the tone in her voice, made Maggie blush at ever having suspected her. “It is gone,” she said, in quite a light and cheerful way, “but I am really sorry I mentioned it. As I said just now, I don’t intend to investigate the matter. I may have fallen asleep and taken the five-pound note out in a dream and torn it up, or put it on the fire. Anyhow, it has vanished, and that is all I have to say. Come, Prissie, I want to hear what Miss Heath said to you last night.”
“No,” suddenly exclaimed Annie Day, “Miss Peel, you must not leave the room just now. You have made a statement, Miss Oliphant, which I for one do not intend to pass over without at least asking a few questions. You did not tear up that note in a dream. If it is lost, someone took it. We are St. Benet’s girls, and we don’t choose to have this kind of thing said to us. The thief must confess, and the note must be returned.”
“All right,” said Maggie, “I sha’n’t object to recovering my property. Priscilla, I shall be walking in the grounds; you can come to me when your council of war is over.”
The moment Maggie left the room, Rosalind Merton made a remark. “Miss Peel is the only person who can explain the mystery,” she said.
“What do you mean?” asked Priscilla.
“Why, you confess yourself that you were in Miss Oliphant’s room the greater part of the evening.”