“Well?” he echoed.
“You’ve brought it back,” said Gerald, nodding at the cup. “I said all along that you had taken it.”
“I didn’t take it!” said Hiltz defiantly. “I found it—just now—by accident, and——”
“Where did you find it?” asked Gerald coolly.
“In the cellar—in Whitson,” replied Hiltz, after the barest instant of hesitancy.
“How did you happen to go there?” asked Gerald with a smile. “You were at the rink half an hour ago.”
“I went to get something.”
“Yes, and you got it, and there it is. What’s the use of lying about it, Hiltz?”
Hiltz’s gaze wandered to the door. Then he shrugged his shoulders and sat down in a chair by the table.