Page 224 of Taken Away

A sadness settled over her face.

"Walter?" Burke asked.

She nodded.

“Mabel never told another soul. At least not that I know of.”

“What happened?”

Patsy sighed.

“About a year ago, Mabel discovered Walter had taken money from Blackwood.”

Burke’s pen stilled.

“How much money?”

Patsy looked down at her cup.

“It wasn’t a few hundred dollars.”

“How much?”

She hesitated.

“Seventy-five thousand.”

Burke’s eyebrows rose.

“Seventy-five thousand?”

"He fully intended to put every penny back before anyone noticed," Patsy said. “His brother had property under contract in Tennessee. Walter believed the sale would close before anyone discovered the shortage."

“But Mabel noticed.”

“Nothing escaped Mabel.”

Burke wrote quickly.

“What did she do?”

“She called Walter into her office and closed the door.”

“Did he deny it?”

Patsy shook her head.

“No.”

“He admitted it?”

“He told her exactly what he’d done.”

“And why?”

Patsy looked toward the window.

“He said he’d panicked.”