This seemed to galvanize the bank president into action. Quickly he lifted up the valise, and, as he did so, a change came over his face. It had been hopeful, now it showed despair.
“The money is gone!” he gasped.
“How do you know?” asked the lawyer sharply.
“The bag is too light-weighted to contain a million, or a large part of it. See!”
He quickly opened the valise. It was not locked. One look inside showed that it contained nothing. The thief had taken away the bundles of bills.
“Are you sure that is the same valise in which the million was originally packed?” asked Larry. “The one lined with the steel mesh?”
“It’s lined with steel, all right,” answered the banker, “and while I could not swear that this is the bank’s bag, I am morally certain it is. Some of the tellers can prove that. But that will be of little value in court. The fact that the money is gone is of more importance.
“My, my! But this mystery grows instead of solving itself,” he went on. “To think of finding the bag back of the old ledgers! The plot was well thought out. How did you come to lift down those books, Larry?”
“It was impulse, at first, that led me to put my hand on them, and when I found that they were so light, and could be shoved along so easily, I was suspicious at once.”
“And with good cause,” added the lawyer. “But I can’t quite see how the trick was worked.”