"This reserve is kept in an inner strong-room. Three keys are necessary to open the door, and these three keys are kept by three different persons. I have one. Three of us have to go together to open that inner room."
"Ewing would never be there alone, then?"
"Certainly not," Wickstead answered. "For my part, I do not believe Frederick Ewing had anything to do with the affair at all. The circumstances of his dismissal naturally make him suspect, but I think that offense was the beginning and end of his dishonesty."
"Yet he has disappeared," said Quarles, "and it looks as if he had taken extreme care to leave no clew behind him."
"He would feel the disgrace keenly, I imagine, and would wish to efface himself," the general manager returned.
"There was no question of prosecuting him, I suppose?"
"One of the directors suggested that course, but it was decided not to do so."
"Could Ewing possibly have heard that a prosecution was contemplated?" asked Quarles. "That would account for his complete disappearance."
"He certainly could not have heard of it. I am sorry for Ewing; indeed, I tried to get the directors to reconsider their decision and give him another chance. It is a terrible thing for a man to have to face poverty and degradation like that. All I achieved was to get laughed at for my sentimentality."
"Then you would still trust Ewing?"