“Say!” cried Witherby, after an open-mouthed stare at Larry. “You’re away off! A million dollars! Why, I had no more to do with the taking of that than you did. I can explain everything if you’ll give me a chance.”
“You’ll have all the chance you want,” declared Larry. “I’ve got plenty of evidence against you. I saw the thousand-dollar bill in your room. I saw you trying on a black beard, I found a sandy moustache in your room. The bricks that were in the dummy bag came from a new house right back of you in Hackenford. I traced you to Seven Mile Beach. I traced you here. You had the million all right. You bought the duplicate valise of Miss Mason, and I found where you hid it behind the old ledgers, the one that held the money. I’ve got you right!”
“Say, either you’re crazy, or I am!” exclaimed Witherby simply, when Larry had finished. “I don’t know any more about that million than you do, though I can see why and how you suspected me. I did have a thousand-dollar bill, and I did disguise myself in a false beard and moustache. But I never knew any of the bricks were near me. I can explain everything.”
“How?” asked Larry incredulously.
“In the shortest way, by saying that I have become an actor, and that the false beard and moustache are part of my outfit. I practiced wearing them back in Hackenford to get used to them, and I wore them publicly to see if people could detect them. I wanted to get a perfect make-up for the part I’m playing here.”
“You an actor?” gasped Larry, now all at sea. “So that’s why you were in the theatre?”
“Exactly, and you’ve made a fine mess of it,” sneered the former bank clerk. “Though, I admit, perhaps my actions were suspicious. But I can explain everything.”
“About the thousand-dollar bill, and leaving town so suddenly?” asked Larry.
“Yes. That bill was given me by Mr. Wilson, one of the bank directors. He befriended me when no one else would, and he got me my place in the bank. I always wanted to be an actor, and I only worked in the Consolidated until I had a chance to get on the stage. I was always rehearsing in private. Mr. Wilson heard of my ambition, and, as his father was a celebrated actor, he had sympathy for me and he gave me a thousand dollars to start my career. That’s where the money came from. I didn’t want to take the money at first, and thought I might return it. That’s why I didn’t bank it or change the bill.”
“But why did you leave so suddenly?”