露易丝将自己对维格船长的猜测告诉了贝丝和帕齐，三个“小侦探”展开了激烈的讨论。一种猜测认为维格做了违法的事情潜逃至此，妻子发现其龌龊行为后悲痛至极而死；还有人断言维格被仇敌谋杀了……最后，露易丝和贝丝一致认为老仆人托马斯是解开秘密的突破口。
Puzzling her brain what to do next，Louise suddenly decided to con？de her secret to her two cousins.Not that she considered them capable of a greater success than she could herself accomplish，but they might prove valuable assistants in the capacity of lieutenantsa.She had great respect for Beth's calm judgment and keen intuitions，and Patsy had a way of accomplishing dif？cult things with ease.
The two girls listened to Louise with expressions of mingled wonder and amusement while she confided to them her first suspicions that Captain Wegg had been murdered，and then the bits of information she had gathered to strengthen the surmiseb and assure her she was justi？ed in her efforts tountangle the web of mystery.
"You see，my dears，"she explained，impressively，as the three lounged upon the grass in the shade of the right wing of the house，"there is a very interesting story about these people that ought to guide us directly to a solution of the puzzle.A roving sea captain marries a girl of good family in spite of the opposition of her relatives.His boatswain，a confidential servant，marries the girl's maid.The next thing we know is that a 'great trouble'causes them to ？ee—doubtless some crime committed by the captain.It may have been robbery，or perhaps piracy on the high seas；who knows？Anyhow，he steals away to this forsaken spot，far from the sea or the railroads，and builds a fine house on a worthlessfarm，showing that he has money，but that retirement is his main object.Here the Weggs make no friends：but the wife cries her eyes out until she dies miserably，leaving a son to the tender mercies of a wicked father.So fearful is he of discovery that he will not allow the boy to go to school，but tries to educate him himself.""Probably the captain's real name was not Wegg，at all，"suggested Patsy，entering into the spirit of the relation."Probably not，dear.He would assume some name，of course，so that it might be more difficult to trace him，"answered Louise."But now—mark me well，girls！—a Nemesis was on the track of this wicked sinner.After many years the man Captain Wegg had wronged，or stolen from，or something，discovered his enemy's hiding place.He promptly killed the Captain，and probably recovered the money，for it's gone.Old Thompson，Ethel's grandfather，happened to bepresent.The murderer also took his money，and—""Oh，Louise！That isn't reasonable，"objected Beth，who had been following the story carefully."Why not？""Because you are making the wronged party as wicked as the man who wronged him.When the avenger found his enemy he might force him to give up his ill—gotten gains；I agree with youthere；but he wouldn't be liable to rob old Thompson，I'm sure.""Beth is right，"said Patsy，stoutlya.
"But old Thompson lost his money at the same time，you know；at least his money could never be found afterward.And I'm sure he was dealt some blow on the head that made him crazy，"answered Louise，positively.
They thought that over.
"I believe I can explain it，girls，"said Beth，presently."The avenger found Captain Wegg，all right—just as Louise has said—and when he found him he demanded a restitutiona of his money，threatening to send the criminal to jail.That would be very natural，wouldn't it？Well，Captain Wegg had spent a good deal of the money，and couldn't pay it all back；so Ethel's grandfather，being his friend，offered to makeup the balance himself rather than see his friend go to prison.That accounts for the disappearance of all the money.""If that is so，"observed Patsy，"I don't see why the man，having got his money back，should murder one and knock the other on the head."It way a puzzle，they all acknowledged，and afterdiscussing the matter from every conceivable standpoint they were no nearer an explanation.That's the way with mysteries；they're often hard to understand.
"The only thing that occurs to me as being sensible，"saidLouise，nally，"is that after the money was paid over they got into a quarrel.Then the avenger lost his temper and committed the murders.""This talk about an avenger is all guess work，"asserted Beth，calmly."I don't believe the facts point to an avenger at all.""But the old crime—the great trouble—""Oh，we'll allow all that，"returned Beth；"and I don't say that an avenger wouldn't be the nicest person to exact retributiona from the wicked captain.But avengers don't always turn up，in real life，when they ought to，girls；so we mustn't be too sure that one turned up in this case.""But now else can you account for the captain's murder？"objected Louise.
"Well，some one else might know he had money，and that Ethel's grandfather had money，too，"was the reply."Suppose the robbery and murder had nothing to do with the old crime at all，but that the murderer knew this to be a deserted place where he could make a good haulb without being discovered.The two old men sat in the right wing，quite unsuspicious，when—""When in walks Mr.Murderer，chokes the captain，knocks his friend on the brain—box，and makes off c with the money！"continued Patsy，gleefully."Oh，girls，I'm sure we've got it right this time."Louise re？ected a moment.
"This country is almost a wilderness，"she mused，aloud，"and few strangers ever come here.Besides，a stranger would not know positively that these two men had money.If we abandon the idea of an avenger，and follow Beth's clue，then the murderer is still right here in Millville，and unsuspected by any of his neighbors.""Oh，Louise！"with startled glances over their shoulders.