“Rather!” said Jack. “Let’s go and hunt through the tea-tree near Dr. Firth’s!”
“Not if I know it!” said the doctor hastily. “You keep well out of the way, young people: there may be tracks, and I don’t want them confused. I mean to get the black trackers down, Mrs. McNab: they may get on the trail, especially if my theory is correct.”
“The black trackers!” ejaculated Mrs. McNab faintly. “Do you really think——?” She paused, looking at him anxiously.
“There’s no harm in trying. Those black fellows are wonderfully quick at picking up a track. And I must say, I should like to put up a fight to get poor old Michael’s things back. They’re precious little good to me, but he valued them. Besides, if the thief or thieves should be in the neighbourhood, my house may not be the last to be robbed. He’s visited the hotel and the poor little Parker ladies already: this may seem to him a good district to work in.”
“I—wonder,” said Mrs. McNab. “Oh, I should think he would have got away. He would not dare to stay.”
“It might be less risky to stay than to go—knowing that every detective in the cities was on the watch for him. Of course, my theory may be all wrong, but I mean to take precautions. And I want you to be on your guard.”
“My Aunt!” said Judy. “We may be burgled next, Jack. What a lark!”
“Don’t be foolish, Judith!” said her mother sharply. “This is a matter far too serious for silly joking. Not that I really feel afraid, Dr. Firth. There is not much here that could be easily carried away, and I never keep much money in the house.”
“No; but the thief might not know that. The enterprising gentleman who knew all about the Parkers’ little hoard might well expect pickings in The Towers. I don’t want to make you nervous, but it would be foolish not to be on the watch.”
For all her attempt at unconcern, Mrs. McNab looked distinctly nervous, though she again expressed the belief that the burglars had got well away with their plunder, and threw cold water on the doctor’s scheme of procuring the black trackers. I wondered at the haggard lines into which her face set as she watched him drive away—he refused her invitation to remain to lunch, remarking that all the Wootong police force were sure to be waiting on his doormat, eager for him to sign more documents. “I don’t know how many I’ve signed already,” he said, laughing. “It’s a terrible thing to come into close quarters with the law!”