Pounding footsteps warned that there was no time in which to search for a hideout. The only possible place was under an old tarpaulin which lay in a heap on the tiles beside the fountain.
Wriggling beneath the canvas, Penny pulled the folds over her head.
Barely had she flattened herself on the floor than Father Benedict pounded into the cloister. So close did he pass to where she lay, that Penny could hear his heavy breathing.
“Now where did that brat go?” he muttered. “She’s here somewhere!”
The monk rang a bell which brought Winkey on the run.
“I’ve looked everywhere for that Parker girl,” he reported before the master could speak. “She must have got away.”
“Fool!” rasped the monk. “She has been hiding in Mrs. Hawthorne’s room! She saw me take the sapphire!”
“You mean you got the gem, boss?”
“Here in my hand. Hold your lantern closer and see for yourself.”
A long pause followed. Penny guessed that the two men were inspecting the gem beneath a light. She was unprepared for the next explosive comment of Father Benedict.