"Not altogether; no, sir, not altogether; Renie has received an expensive education, and my wife always found the money to pay the bills; the girl thinks she was educated out of my hard earnings, but never a dollar or my money went for her support until after the old woman died!"
"Have you ever searched for the box?"
"I have."
"Do you suppose your wife ever opened it?"
"That I cannot tell, but once when she and I were in the City of New York, we read about a great singer who had some magnificent jewels, and my wife said to me: 'I'll wager I could-show jewels handsomer and richer than that critter's got, and they claim hers are valued at a hundred thousand dollars.'"
The detective heard all these strange revelations, and he made up his mind that there was a big job falling into his hands.
"You say you have searched for the box?"
"Yes."
"And never found it or gained any clew as to its whereabouts?"
"Never."