"Isn't it possible that there is a connection between the colossal
theft at the Union Bank and these disturbances?" she said.

Anderson seemed to think over the question.

"What do you mean?" he asked as Dale slowly moved into the room from
the alcove, silently closing the alcove doors behind her, and still
unobserved.

"Suppose," said Miss Cornelia slowly, "that Courtleigh Fleming took
that money from his own bank and concealed it in this house?" The
eavesdropper grew rigid.

"That's the theory you gave headquarters, isn't it?" said Anderson.
"But I'll tell you how headquarters figures it out. In the first
place, the cashier is missing. In the second place, if Courtleigh
Fleming did it and got as far as Colorado, he had it with him when
he died, and the facts apparently don't bear that out. In the
third place, suppose he had hidden the money in or around this house.
Why did he rent it to you?"

"But he didn't," said Miss Cornelia obstinately, "I leased this
house from his nephew, his heir."

The detective smiled tolerantly.

"Well, I wouldn't struggle like that for a theory," he said, the
professional note coming back to his voice. "The cashier's missing
--that's the answer."