"
Ruth looked relieved. Her pretty features relaxed into a smile.
"Then I fancy Reginald Henson has done so," she said. "I fancy I have
solved the mystery of the cigar-case--I mean, the mystery of the one
I bought."
"And which was changed for the one purchased at Walen's, hence these
tears. But Lockharts say that _our_ case was really purchased by an
American."
"Yes, I know. And I fancy that the manager honestly thought so. But I
think I can explain that."
It was David's turn to look up eagerly.
"Do you mean it?" he exclaimed. "It will make a wonderful difference if
you can. That has been one of the most bewildering knots of the whole
puzzle. If we could only trace the numbers of those notes, I suppose
changed at the same time as the cigar-case."
"Indeed they were not," Ruth cried. "I have ascertained that the case was
changed by Henson, as you and I have already decided. Henson made the
exchange not at the time we thought."
"Not when you left the package on the table for him to see?"
"No; at least I can't say. He had the other case then, probably, passed
on to him by Van Sneck.
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