The person who wrote the second and third 'A. Spark'
letters did it. She was murdered with this deadly instrument"
- Craig laid the letter-file on the table - "and it was planned to
throw the entire burden of suspicion on her by asserting that there
was a shortage in the books of her department."
"Pooh!" exclaimed Stacey, smoking complacently at his cigar. "We
have been victimised in those fires by people who have grudges
against us, labour unions and others. This talk of an arson trust
is bosh - yellow journalism. More than that, we have been
systematically robbed by a trusted head of a department, and the
fire at Stacey's was the way the thief took to cover - er - her
stealings. At the proper time we shall produce the bookkeeper
Douglas and prove it.
Kennedy fumbled in the drawer of the desk, then drew forth a long
strip of paper covered with figures. "All the Stacey companies,"
he said, "have been suffering from the depression that exists in
the trade at present. They are insolvent. Glance over that,
Stacey. It is a summary of the preliminary report of the accountants
of the district attorney who have been going over your books to-day."
Stacey gasped. "How did you get it? The report was not to be ready
until nine o'clock, and it is scarcely a quarter past now.
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