"PER ... IMP ..." said I. "Does the cap fit?"
"Yes," she said simply. "That's right. I remember it perfectly. The
other seemed likely, but I was never quite sure." Trembling a little,
she turned and looked round. "And you came out of that break in the
hedge with the tomato, and----Oh!"
She stopped, and the colour came flooding into her cheeks....
Then, in a flash, she turned and sped down the alley like a wild thing.
As in a dream, I watched the tall slim figure dart out of sight....
A second impatient yelp reminded me that Nobby was still waiting.
* * * * *
The firm of silversmiths whom we employed to clean the collection, after
it had been disinterred, valued it for purposes of insurance at
twenty-two thousand pounds.
We saw no reason to communicate with Vandy. The exercise was probably
doing him good, and he had shown a marked antipathy to interruption. A
tent had been pitched at The Lawn, and the work of excavation went
steadily on. Not until the twenty-eighth of September did it suddenly
cease.
Three days later we had occasion to drive into Brooch. We returned by
way of The Lawn. As we approached the entrance, I slowed up....
From the tall gates a brand-new board flaunted its black and white
paint.
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