Mr Welkin kept his temper. He seemed almost amused.
"Well, it's perfectly simple, isn't it?" he said. "This fellow has been wandering about in this disguise all the evening. He couldn't come in here because her ladyship wanted him to be a surprise to the children, but he had the rest of the house to himself. He went round lifting anything he fancied, including my diamonds. Suppose he had been met? No one would think anything of it. Father Christmas always carries a sack. Then he went off down the drive, where he met a confederate in a car, handed over the stuff and came back to the party."
Mike began to speak but Sheila interrupted him.
"What makes you think Mike would do such a thing, Mr Welkin?" she demanded, her voice shaking with fury.
Edward Welkin's heavy mouth widened in a grin.
