A Perilous Secret by Charles Reade
page 42 of 402 (10%)
page 42 of 402 (10%)
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"Suspicious? Eh?" said Bartley. "So suspicious that if I were you--Indeed, Mr. Bartley, I think, in justice to _me_, the matter ought to be cleared to the bottom." "You are right," said Bartley: "I'll have him searched before he goes. Fetch me a detective at once." Bartley then wrote a line upon his card, and handed it to Monckton, directing him to lose no time. He then rushed out of the house with an air of virtuous indignation, and went to make some delicate arrangements to carry out a fraud, which, begging his pardon, was as felonious, though not so prosaic, as the one he suspected his young clerk of. Monckton was at first a little taken aback by the suddenness of all this; but he was too clear-headed to be long at fault. The matter was brought to a point. Well, he must shoot flying. In a moment he was at the safe, whipped out a bunch of false keys, opened the safe, took out the cash-box, and swept all the gold it contained into his own pockets, and took possession of the notes. Then he locked up the cash-box again, restored it to the safe, locked that, and sat down at Bartley's table. He ran over the notes with feverish fingers, and then took the precaution to examine Bartley's day-book. His caution was rewarded--he found that the notes Bolton had brought in were _numbered_. He instantly made two parcels--clapped the unnumbered notes into his pocket. The numbered ones he took in his hand into the lobby. Now this lobby must be shortly described. First there was a door with a glass window, but the window had dark blue gauze fixed to it, so that nobody could see into the lobby from the office; but a person in the lobby, by |
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