“Then the devil must have been playing with the brass whilst I was at the ‘Royal’!”
She said neither yes nor no, and his mouth tightened. He would have liked to seize her by the shoulders and shake her out of her cold complacency. The entire absence of any sense of fear, of any apprehension of danger, stung him almost beyond his power of endurance; but once again the stronger passion of greed held him in check.
“Haven’t they found any clue?” Nancy asked, when there had been silence between them for some moments.
“They haven’t,” he answered suggestively. “They haven’t an idea between them. A set o’ wooden skittles, bowled over by any bungling prentice that tries his hand at burglary—that’s what they are. What clue there is they won’t see when it’s pointed out to ’em. At any rate, that fool of a detective won’t.”
“Then there is a clue?” she asked, and the hot blood rushed to her cheeks the more violently when she tried to restrain it. Her quick wit told her that it was Jagger whom he suspected; and indignant words were not far from her lips when her husband spoke.
“Whatever I think I’m not thinking out loud. If I hadn’t had so much sense before, what’s just happened ’ud have taught me. Somebody who knew it was there took it, that’s clear enough; and there are certain people who are going to be watched.”
She was very angry, yet common-sense came to her help and warned her that she would do well to restrain herself. After all, Jagger would easily free himself of such a ridiculous suspicion; and for her to show resentment would do him no good.
Inman guessed what was passing in his wife’s mind and added the incident to the other stored-up memories which rankled in his mind and punished him sorely; but for the moment nothing but gentleness could serve his purpose, and he went on in a softer tone.
“Let it drop, lass. If I’m wronging anybody in my thoughts it’ll do ’em no harm. There may be naught in it, but it’s my duty to you as well as myself to look round and try to find a key ’at’ll fit t’ lock.
“But we’ll put it o’ one side; there’s other things have to be thought about, and you and me’ll have to make our minds up. Baldwin’ll be made bankrupt, that’s certain, but the shop’s yours, and the machinery’ll be mine—ours, I should say; what are we going to do about it?”