“You think so?” Richards shrugged his shoulders disdainfully. “Well, prove it.”
“I will.” John Hale waved his walking stick which he had brought with him into the library in his haste to encounter Richards. “And here’s one link in the chain now,” as Frank Latimer was ushered in by Anna, the waitress, whose curious glance at the excited group escaped notice. “Frank, did Major Richards sell ten bonds of the Troy Valve Company in your office on Friday afternoon?”
“He did.” The little stockbroker stared at each in turn, and the gravity of their expression was reflected in his manner.
“Did Judith call there that same afternoon?” Richards’ violent start was seen by all, and John Hale’s eyes gleamed viciously as he continued his questions. “Did she tell you that she owned ten bonds of the Troy Valve Company, numbering from 37982 to 37991?”
“Yes.”
“And did those numbers correspond with the numbers on the bonds sold you by Major Richards?”
“They did.”
John Hale turned to his brother. “You have a memorandum of Judith’s bonds which were stolen from your safe on Tuesday night,” he stated. “Repeat the numbers.”
There was a slight hesitation in Hale’s manner before he complied with his brother’s abrupt request. Opening his leather wallet, he found a memorandum and ran his eye down it.
“The numbers are the same,” he said, and replaced his wallet.