“Gone?” Fred demanded. “How could it be?”
“That’s what I can’t understand. Unless perhaps your mother put it away somewhere.”
Mr. Hatfield went quickly to the kitchen to talk to his wife. However, as he had feared, she had not removed the box from the desk drawer.
During the conversation, Sergeant Billings had listened without comment. He now asked to inspect the desk in the upstairs study.
“You didn’t have the box in a very safe place,” he commented. “Apparently, the drawer wasn’t even locked.”
“It has no key,” Mr. Hatfield admitted. “I thought the box would be safe enough until I could turn it over to police.”
“How many persons have been in the house since you brought the box here?” the sergeant questioned.
“Well, quite a few. All of the Cubs except Midge. Then Mr. Wilson came.”
“And Mr. Brakschmidt,” added Brad. “He didn’t go upstairs though and neither did Mr. Wilson.”
“No one did except the members of my own family,” Mr. Hatfield said earnestly. “I know that neither Fred nor my wife touched the box. But what became of it?”