"Now, mind you, Fenwick Grimes had gone off on a business trip of some duration, and Allen Chesterton had disappeared several days before the checks were drawn and the money removed from the banks. "It was hinted by one ingenious police reporter that the bookkeeper was really the guilty man. He even raked up some story of the man at his lodgings which intimated that Chesterton had some art as an actor. Parts of disguises were found abandoned at his empty rooms. This suggestion was made: That Chesterton was a forger and had disguised himself as Mr. Morrell so as to cash the checks without question. Then Fenwick Grimes returned and discovered that the bank balances were gone. "At first your father was no more suspected than was Grimes himself. Then, one paper printed an article intimating that your father, the senior partner of the firm, might be the criminal. You see, the bank tellers had been interviewed. Before that the suggestion that by any possibility Mr. Morrell was guilty had been scouted. But the next day it was learned your father and mother had gone away. Immediately the bookkeeper was forgotten and the papers all seemed to agree that Prince Morrell had really stolen the money. "Oddly enough the creditors made little trouble at first. Your Uncle Starkweather was mentioned as having been a silent partner in the concern and having lost heavily himself----" "Poor dad was able to pay Uncle Starkweather first of all--years and years ago," interposed Helen. "Ah! and Grimes? Do you know if he made any claim on your father at any time?" "I think not. You see, he was freed of all debt almost at once through bankruptcy. Mr. Grimes really had a very small financial interest in the firm. Dad said he was more like a confidential clerk. Both he and Uncle Starkweather considered Grimes a very good asset to the firm, although he had no money to put into it. That is the way it was told to me." "And very probable. This Grimes is notoriously sharp," said Dud, reflectively. "And right after he went through bankruptcy he began to do business as a money-lender. Supposedly he lent other people's money; but he is now worth a million, or more. Question is: Where did he get his start in business after the robbery and the failure of Grimes & Morrell?" "Oh, Dud!" "Don't you suspect him, too?" demanded the young man. "I--I am prejudiced, I fear." "So am I," agreed Dud, with a grim chuckle. "I'm going after that man Grimes. It's funny he should go into business with a mysterious capital right after the old firm was closed out, when before that he had had no money to invest in the firm of which he was a member." "I feared as much," sighed Helen. "And he was so eager to throw suspicion on the lost bookkeeper, just to satisfy my curiosity and put me off the track. He's as bad as Uncle Starkweather. _He_ doesn't want me to go ahead because of the possible scandal, and Mr. Grimes is afraid for his own sake, I very much fear. What a wicked man he must be!"