When, at last, Saxe had made an end of playing, there followed a long silence. It was Billy Walker who broke it. His great voice rang through the room, harsh, compelling:
“It’s there,” he said, with simple finality. “It’s there—the clue!”
CHAPTER X
IN THE WOOD
THE others received the astonishing pronouncement of Billy Walker with varying emotions, of which the chief was a candid incredulity.
“How in the world do you justify that remarkable statement?” Roy demanded, breaking the silence of surprise, which had at first held the three.
For a moment, Billy showed traces of embarrassment. Then, swiftly, an expression of relief showed on his heavy face, and he spoke glibly enough:
“The conclusion to which I have come,” he declared ponderously, “is compelled by exact reasoning from all the facts in our possession. The late Mr. Abernethey unquestionably left for his heir some sort of clue as to the hiding-place of the money. Having in mind the whimsical nature of the man, we may well believe that, in a case such as this, the clue would be of an especially curious kind. Next, we have the fact that Mr. Abernethey was a musician. He was devoted to that art beyond anything else, excepting only his passion as a miser. Now, our search through his effects and his house has discovered only a single thing having a real, vital bearing on his personality, and—more than that—on the very object of our quest here, money. In consequence of all these facts, I am led to the conclusion that this page of manuscript offers us the clue for which we have hitherto been hunting in vain.” The speaker paused, to stare from one to another of his auditors triumphantly.
Roy uttered an ejaculation of impatience.