“You took what?”
“A paper.”
“You mean that you stole Sir Charles’s keys and opened his bureau?”
“There was no stealing. He was out and they were lying on his dressing table. Sidney had told me to do it the first time I got a chance.”
“What had he told you to do?”
“To search through Sir Charles’s papers and see if there was anything with the word ‘Fire-Tongue’ in it!”
“Ah!” exclaimed Harley, a note of suppressed triumph in his voice. “Go on.”
“There was only one paper about it,” continued the girl, now speaking rapidly, “or only one that I could find. I put the bureau straight again and took this paper to Sidney.”
“But you must have read the paper?”
“Only a bit of it. When I came to the word ‘Fire-Tongue,’ I didn’t read any more.”