He tore away the screen. No one was there.
"It was my aunt's voice," said the colonel, calmly. "I consent."
"Consent to what?" asked Horace Richmond, entering the room at that moment.
The test was explained to him.
"Good!" he whispered to Nick. "A fine idea."
"Name a piece of jewelry," said the detective to the colonel.
"Among all her wonderful collection," replied Colonel Richmond, speaking slowly, "there was no piece of which she was more proud than the gold clasp, studded with diamonds, which you well remember, Horace."
"I do," responded Horace. "There is an old tradition about it. A remote ancestor of ours is said to have brought it from the Holy Land at the time of the third crusade."
"An ancient family," said Nick. "You have a right to be proud of your ancestry. I accept the article named as the one upon which the test shall be made, provided that you are sure that it is now in the vault."
"Perfectly certain," responded the colonel. "I put it there with my own hands. Nobody else was present, except an officer of the company and my daughter. It is utterly impossible that the jewel can have been removed."