courteously. "No reason appears why you should have taken it. But I'm
not seeking reasons, nor am I seeking disagreeable publicity--only the
money."

"It seems to me you attach undue importance to the handkerchief," she
objected.

"That's a matter of opinion," Mr. Grimm remarked. "It would be useless,
even tedious, to attempt to disprove a burglar theory, but against it is
the difficulty of entrance, the weight of the gold, the ingenious method
of opening the safe, and the assumption that not more than six persons
knew the money was in the safe; while a person in the house _might_ have
learned it in any of a dozen ways. And, in addition, is the fact that
the handkerchief is odd, therefore noticeable. A lace expert assures me
there's probably not another like it in the world."

He stopped. Miss Thorne's eyes sparkled and a smile seemed to be tugging
at the corners of her mouth. She spread out the handkerchief on her
knees.

"You could identify this again, of course?" she queried.

"Yes."

She thoughtfully crumpled up the bit of lace in both hands, then opened
them. There were two handkerchiefs now--they were identical.

"Which is it, please?" she asked.

If Mr. Grimm was disappointed there was not a trace of it on his face.