"I swear to you, if Mrs. Bloodgood did take it," he said, "I would not condemn her. On the contrary, I would pity her." "Why should Mrs. Bloodgood, who has millions, do such a thing?" she said quietly. "Because, from what I know, Mrs. Bloodgood, who has millions, as the wife of Enos Bloodgood, has not as much money in her pocket as you or I." He stopped. "She took it to have some means of escape, didn’t she?" "No, she did not take it," she answered, but in a tone that brought no conviction. "You see, I know that you returned to Mrs. Kildair’s that night," he said, irritated. "How did you know?" she said quickly. "Mrs. Kildair told me—no, that’s not true; some one else did." "Mrs. Kildair herself called me on the telephone and asked me to come," she said slowly. "And questioned you?" "Yes." "As to what you had seen?" he said, with a great feeling of relief that should have warned him of his true interest. "Yes." "What did you answer?" She rose and approached him, looking at him with only friendliness. "If the ring is not restored in two weeks," she said, "then I will tell you what you wish to know." "You think that, if Mrs. Bloodgood took it, she will now have no use for it," he persisted, seizing the idea. "I know nothing at all," she answered, emphasizing the "know." "This promise must satisfy you. I only have a suspicion, and I don’t want to do an injustice to another—remember that. I have never said it was Mrs. Bloodgood I suspected. Now I want to talk to you about my own affairs." He was covered with contrition that he should have forgotten her difficulties. "Good heavens!" he said hastily. "What have I been thinking of? Please don’t think I don’t care; I’ve been in such a whirl—" She checked him with a gesture and a smile, motioning him to sit down again. "Have you had any word?" She shook her head. "Of course, it’s a terrible day on the Street," he hastened to reply. "Everything’s up in the air—they’re like a lot of lunatics. Garraboy hasn’t had time to think. That oughtn’t to alarm you." "But I left word at his office for him to telephone me, and it is now," she said, glancing at the clock, "an hour and a half since the close." "There are probably a hundred inquiries of the same sort awaiting him," he said to reassure her. "What are you afraid of?" "I don’t know—and yet I am a little anxious. Suppose he has used my stocks? Such things happen every day." "The best thing is to find out at once how Garraboy stands—if he’s been caught in the drop or not. Then we can take our measures." "How’ll you do that?" "Call up Bruce Gunther and get him on the trail. May I telephone?" "Do so." "He’s probably at the club now," he said, taking up the receiver and giving a number. "Yes, he’s in. That’s lucky. I’ll get him in a moment." Then he added irritably: "How the deuce did you ever come to deal with Garraboy?"