The question was settled in a moment, for a key was thrust into the lock and the door swung open. The night watchman had possessed no key when at the door, for which the boy was thankful.
Two persons entered and the door was closed and locked.
"Who's been here?" asked Jimmie, panting from his long climb. "We heard a voice in this corridor, and met the watchman down below.
He's red-headed about something. That feller's of about as much use here as a chorus lady painted on the back drop. I told him that you'd probably gone to sleep over your work. Here, Black Bear," he continued, with a grin, "meet Mr. Wolf, otherwise Ned Nestor. You fellers get together right now."Fremont saw a sturdy boy of little less than eighteen, a lad with a face that one would trust instinctively. His dark eyes met the blue ones of the patrol leader steadily. There was no suspicion of guilt in his manner.
Ned Nestor extended his hand frankly, his strong, clean-cut face sympathetic. Fremont grasped it eagerly, and the two stood for a moment looking into each other's eyes.
"I've brought Ned Nestor to talk it over with you," Jimmie said.
"He's a good Scout, only he thinks he's a detective. He gets all the boys out of scrapes--except me, and I never get into any. That is, he gets out all the honest ones.""Jimmie told me about the trouble here," Nestor said, "and I came to learn the exact truth from you. If you struck this man and rifled the safe, tell me so at once. There may be extenuating circumstances, you know.""I didn't do it," Fremont broke out. "I hadn't been in the room a minute when Jimmie came in and accused me of the crime. There is some mystery about it, for no man could get into this building at night unless he was helped in, or unless he hid during the day, in which case he would be observed moving about."Nestor smiled but made no reply.
"There has been no robbery," Fremont continued. "There are negotiable bonds on the floor by the safe, and Mr. Cameron's watch and chain and diamonds are still on him.""Do you know," Nestor said, smiling, "that the points to which you refer are the strongest ones against you? Tell me all about it, from the moment you came into the room."Fremont told the story as it is already known to the reader, Nestor sitting in silence with a frown of deep thought on his brows. When the recital was finished he went into the north room and stood over the unconscious man.
"Fremont! Fremont! He did it! He did it!"
Over and over again the accusing words came from the white lips. Nestor turned and looked keenly at the despairing boy at his side. Then he stooped over and examined the wound on the head.
"It is a hard proposition," he finally said. "It appears to me that his mention of your name is more like an appeal for help than an accusation, however. Jimmie," he went on, facing the boy, "you heard Fremont coming up the stairs?""Yes; he was whistling. He couldn't make enough noise with his feet.""You followed him up here?"
"Yes," with a little grin.
"Why did you do that?"
"Well, I wanted to see if it was all right--his coming in here.""Very commendable," smiled Nestor. "Do you think he would have attracted attention to himself by whistling if he had had no business here?""Anyway," observed Jimmie, "I followed him up. Wish I hadn't, and wish you wouldn't hop onto me so.""Do you think he was in these room before he whistled on the stairs?"was the next question. "That is, in the rooms within a couple of hours of the time you heard him coming up the stairs?""No; I don't think he was. I heard him whistling down at the bottom.
There was a light in this room then, and it was put out; or it might have been put out just before I heard him whistling.""How long was he in here before you came in?" was asked.
"Oh, about half a minute, I reckon."
"Not long enough to make all this muss with the papers?""Of course not. He couldn't do all this in half a minute.""Then you think that if he did this at all he did it before he whistled on the stairs. That he did it and went back, to indicate that he had just entered the building?""That's just it, but I'm not sayin' he did it, mind you, Ned.""Whoever did this took plenty of time for it," said Nestor, turning to George. "Will you tell me where you spent the evening, and with whom?"Fremont told of the meeting of the Black Bear Patrol, of the plans which had been made at the club-room, and of his parting with Frank Shaw at the corner.
"Frank will know what time it was when he left me," said the boy, hopefully, "and the taxicab driver will know what time it was when he left me at the door of the building. That ought to settle it.""It might," was the grave reply, "if Mr. Cameron would not speak those accusing words. Your danger lies there now. For my part, Ibelieve that, as I said before, the words are more an appeal to you for assistance than an accusation, but the police will want to arrest some one for the crime, and so they will doubtless lock you up without bail until there is a change in the injured man's condition.""The police are dubs!" exclaimed Jimmie.
"We have to figure on the working of their alleged minds if they are,"said Nestor.
Then he turned to Fremont and asked:
"You were on good terms with Mr. Cameron?"
"Yes; well, we had a few words at dinner to-night about office work.
We did not quarrel, exactly, of course, but he seemed to think that Iought to pay more attention to my duties, and I told him I was studying hard, and that I was doing my best.""Did he appear to be satisfied with the explanation?""Yes, sir."
