"There is no one else to suspect. You may call it a certitude."
"You don't want to tell me what it is?" she inquired, in the equable
tone in which one takes a fact into account.
Heyst only smiled faintly.
"Nothing very precious, as far as value goes," he replied.
"I thought it might have been money," she said.
"Money!" exclaimed Heyst, as if the suggestion had been altogether
preposterous. She was so visibly surprised that he hastened to add: "Of
course, there is some money in the house--there, in that writing-desk,
the drawer on the left. It's not locked. You can pull it right out.
There is a recess, and the board at the back pivots: a very simple
hiding-place, when you know the way to it. I discovered it by accident,
and I keep our store of sovereigns in there. The treasure, my dear, is
not big enough to require a cavern."
He paused, laughed very low, and returned her steady stare.
"The loose silver, some guilders and dollars, I have always kept in that
unlocked left drawer. I have no doubt Wang knows what there is in it,
but he isn't a thief, and that's why I--no, Lena, what I've missed is
not gold or jewels; and that's what makes the fact interesting--which
the theft of money cannot be."
She took a long breath, relieved to hear that it was not money. A great
curiosity was depicted on her face, but she refrained from pressing him
with questions.
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