"Yes," says the Sergeant, as if he was actually reading my thoughts in
the dark. "Instead of putting me on the scent, it may console you to
know, Mr. Betteredge (with your interest in Rosanna), that you have been
the means of throwing me off. What the girl has done, to-night, is clear
enough, of course. She has joined the two chains, and has fastened them
to the hasp in the tin case. She has sunk the case, in the water or
in the quicksand. She has made the loose end of the chain fast to some
place under the rocks, known only to herself. And she will leave the
case secure at its anchorage till the present proceedings have come
to an end; after which she can privately pull it up again out of its
hiding-place, at her own leisure and convenience. All perfectly plain,
so far. But," says the Sergeant, with the first tone of impatience in
his voice that I had heard yet, "the mystery is--what the devil has she
hidden in the tin case?"
I thought to myself, "The Moonstone!" But I only said to Sergeant Cuff,
"Can't you guess?"
"It's not the Diamond," says the Sergeant. "The whole experience of my
life is at fault, if Rosanna Spearman has got the Diamond.
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