"Of course," said the detective, "we have tried to get at the matter from the other end; but Jacoby, Haight & Company refuse to discuss the affairs of their clients.
I did not press the point as I did not want to stir up comment.
However," he smiled, "I must confess, Mr. Gaylord, that I think your explanation a trifle fishy.
Perhaps you will answer one question.
Did you mail your letter to them in Kennisburg the night of the robbery with a special delivery stamp?"
"It happens that I did, but it was merely a coincidence and has nothing to do with the robbery."
"Will you be kind enough to explain why you drove to Kennisburg in the night and why you needed the money so suddenly?"
"No, I will not.
That is a matter which concerns, me alone."
"Very well!
As it happens I do not base my charge on the letter; I had already formed my opinion before I knew of its existence.
Do you deny that you yourself have encouraged the belief in the ghost among the negroes?
That on more than one occasion, you, or your accomplice, Cat-Eye Mose, have masqueraded as the ghost?
That, while you were pretending to Colonel Gaylord to be as much puzzled by the matter as he, you were in truth at the bottom of the whole business?"
Radnor glanced uneasily at me and hesitated before replying.
"No," he said at length, "I don't deny that, but I do affirm that it has nothing to do with the robbery."
The detective laughed.
"You must excuse me, Mr. Gaylord, if I stick to the opinion that I have solved the puzzle."
He turned with a motion toward the house, and Radnor barred the entrance.
"Do you think I lie when I say I know nothing of those bonds?"
"Yes, Mr. Gaylord, I do."
For a moment I thought that Radnor was going to strike him, but I pulled him back and turned to Clancy.
"He knows nothing about the bonds," said I, "but nevertheless you must not take any such story to Colonel Gaylord.
He is an old man, and while he would not believe his son guilty of theft, still it would worry him.
There is something else that happened that night—entirely uncriminal—but which we do not wish him to hear about.
Therefore I am not going to let you go to him with this nonsensical tale that you have cooked up."
This was a trial shot on my part but it hit the bull's-eye.
Radnor stared but said nothing; and the detective visibly wavered.
"Now," I added, taking out my checkbook, "suppose I pay you what you would have received had you discovered the bonds, and dispense with your further services?"
"That's just as you say.
I feel that I've done the job and am entitled to the money.
If you wish to pay it, all right; otherwise I get it from Colonel Gaylord.
I received a retaining fee and was to have two hundred dollars more when I located the bonds.
In order not to stir up any bad feeling I'm willing to take that two hundred dollars from you and drop the matter."
"It's blackmail!" said Radnor.
"Keep still, Rad," I said. "It's very accommodating of Mr. Clancy to see it this way."
I wrote out a check and tossed it to the detective.
"Now go to Colonel Gaylord," I said, "tell him that you have been unsuccessful in finding any clue; that the bonds will almost certainly be marketed in the city, and that your only hope of tracing them is to work from the other end.
Then pack your bag and go.
A carriage will be ready to take you to the Junction in half an hour."
"Just wait a moment, Mr. Clancy," Rad called after him as he turned away.
He drew a note book from his pocket and ripping out a page scrawled across the face:
"Jacoby, Haight and Co.
"Gentlemen:—You will oblige me by answering any questions which the bearer of this note may ask concerning my past transactions with you.
"Radnor F.
Gaylord."
"There," said Rad, thrusting it toward him, "kindly make use of that when you get to Washington, and in the future I should advise you to base your charges on something a little more substantial."
His manner was insultingly contemptuous, but Clancy swallowed it with smiling good nature.
"I shall be interested in continuing the investigation," he observed as he pocketed the paper and withdrew.
CHAPTER VIII THE ROBBERY REMAINS A MYSTERY