absolutely alone.

"I think so," he replied. "They said nothing except that they had
not expected me back so soon, I think the 'so soon' was an
afterthought. They didn't expect me back at all. For," he added
significantly, "I've been in fear and trembling until I could get
you. They already have asked the regular audit company to go over
the books in advance of the time when we usually employ them. I
didn't ask why. I merely accepted it with a nod. It might have meant
bringing matters to a crisis now."

He felt safer with Constance installed as his private secretary.
True, Beverley and Dumont had viewed her from the start with
suspicion.

Constance had been thinking hard out in her little office since she
had begun to understand how matters stood. "Well?" she demanded.
"What of it? Don't try to conceal it. Let them discover it. Go
further. Dare them. Court exposure."

It was bold and ingenious. What a woman she was for meeting
emergencies. Murray, who had a will that had been accustomed to bend
others to his purposes except in the instance where they had bent
him and nearly broken him, recognized the masterful mind of
Constance. He was willing to allow her to play the game.

Thus Constance began collecting the very data that would have sent
Murray to jail for bribery. Day by day as she worked on, the
situation became more and more delicate. They found themselves alone
much of the time now. Beverley was, or pretended to be, busy on