"What?" asked Mr. Dare, for she had stopped.
"It must be very ugly," concluded she. But somehow Mr. Dare gathered an impression that it was not what she had been about to say.
"What is it that Delves says about the cloaks?" eagerly questioned Cyril. "I cannot make it out."
"Delves says he knows who it is that owns the other; and that it was the other which went to change the cheque at White's."
"What mysterious words, papa!" cried Adelaide. "The cloak went to change the cheque!"
"They were Delves' own words," replied Mr. Dare. "He did seem remarkably mysterious over it."
"Is he going to hunt up the other cloak?" resumed Cyril.
"I conclude so. He was pondering over it for some time before he could remember who it was that he had seen wear a similar cloak. When the recollection came to him, he started up with surprise. Sharp men, these police-officers!" added Mr. Dare. "They forget nothing."
"And they ferret out everything," said Herbert with some testiness. "Instead of wasting time over vain speculations touching cloaks, why does not he secure Halliburton? It is impossible that the other cloak—if there is another—could have had anything to do with the affair."
"I dropped a note to Delves after he left me, recommending him to follow up the suspicion on Halliburton, whether Mr. Ashley is agreeable or not," said Mr. Dare. "I have rarely in my life met with a stronger case of presumptive evidence."