“For that matter, Grover could of did any of them. He could have as much cupola as me.”
“Cupola?” broke in Roger.
“He means ‘cupidity’,” remarked Grover, “thinking about the Eye.”
“But he says he found it. Admits it. And Mr. Clark vows he had blundered, and threw away the good gem,” persisted Roger, sure of his incriminating clues. “Who says the gem was left in India? Who had the sense to pull fuses, to stop our devices? Who else but somebody trained by you, Grover——”
“Well, you was trained, too,” cried Potts, angry.
“The gas is expelled by now,” Grover had not lost his cold, serious expression. “There is desperate need for action, more than for recrimination. Let’s go in.”
They sat in the office. Roger recounted the clever warning with his watch charm on its big chain, given by Doctor Ryder, and all the mystifying, or incriminating conversations and occurrences, including a fuller account of his experience in the dark-room.
“I suppose the poor mice are gassed,” he muttered, finally.
But Grover was not listening.
“Tip,” he stood up, “help me push this desk aside.”