The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1920-10-15


! shook my head doubtfully.
I'm afraid not" l admitted. you
see-"
Don't bother to explain. You either
would or wouldn't. and that's all we
need to know now. There's old Mr..
CASTOR and his wife. It's queer about
their ducking out so suddenly and
leaving no address. but maybe they're
only scared. Let's see who else Is
there-the Bradford servants and the
old mans. the old washerwoman-
and the families who live in the house.
We've got the circle pretty well Gov.
cred. haven't wei"
More and more l had begun to ap-
preciate how valuable the services Of
an experienced detective would be
likely to be in helping to solve the
mystery.
Look here, German" I said. "why
can't you take charge Of this case for
us1'
whats In III" he asked.
My face fell. and my enthusiasm
died q sudden death. Once more I
was confronted by the specter Of my
poverty. OF what use my talking
to q high-priced Investigator like Cor.
nan when all the money l had in the
world was less than two hundred dol
lars, out of which I had to live until I
found employment. Yet l must serve
Barbara Bradford.
If you clear up this case" I an
nounced. "Ill give you every cent I've
got in the world"
He shook his head.
It won't be for the money that's in It.
For that matter l can get all I want
from old CASTOR for getting his pearls
back. That'l be enough"
Then you will take the case" I
cried %jubilantly.
ION one condition. That you'll prom
ise to keep everything away from the
police"
'Il promise that for myself and
Miss Bradford. too. That was the
n reason she advanced against my
telling you about things. She was
afraid you'd call In the police"
"Never fear about that. There's
nothing I'd like better than to put it
over that bunch Of young reformers
they've got down in Center street. This
hotel work don't suit me, anyhow. I've
been thinking Of opening up an Office
Of my own. The recovery Of the Gas
ton pearls would be q nice feather in
my cap to start with"
II see." / replied. "but you'll need
money for expenses and that sort Of
thing, won't your l have"
Leave that part Of it to me-" he
retorted with a quizzical smile.
after all the years I was on the po-
lice fo-ce. l amt exactly broke by a
long SHOT. All you've got to do IL to
keep your eyes open and let me know
all that goes on In the apartment
house. I'll attend to the rest. Don't
do anything. though. without consult
Ing me first."
"Tll gladly promise that"
GOOD enough. We'd better arrange
then to meet here every day ut three
sharp. It's al good 4 place as any,"
"T1l be here"
"And look out you're not trailed.
They may try shadowing you again."
"Who do you mean by theyr I
asked eagerly.
"Them that trailed you yesterday"
replied German with q grin. III you
don't know. I don't know either-yet."
From his manner I was confident
that he already had . shrewd suspi-
cion as to the identity OF some Of the
miscreants. The maze In the center
Of which he had placed Miss Bradford
and myself meant far more to him.
undoubtedly. than 1t did to me. More
than likely his vast knowledge Of the
methods Of criminals and his acquaint-
anceship with others like Lefty Moore
had given him clues enough as to
where to look for the plotters. I real.
lied that It would be useless to Ques-
ton him further. He would admit
suspecting no one until he wal sure
Of their guilt. . quality I admired
greatly.
"You can count on me-" I repeated.
"I1l be here At three tomorrow"
Yet how foolish It was for any Of
MS to predict what we will be doing or
where we viii be twenty-four hours
from now. Seldom do things happen
In the routine Of our lives N We had
anticipated. l was not there the next
day at the time appointed. BY no pos
sibility could ! have been there, how
ever much ! might have wished to.
Many things had happened In quick
succession.
How It came about that my promise
to meet German went unfulnlled can
best be explained by n~arrating the
events Of the evening aft~ I returned
to the Granddeck. It wsS nearly Eve
when I left the detective. l strolled
leisurely down town and had dinner In
the cafe where on one occasion l had
seen the scar.faced fingered
there for 4 Ions time over nv coffee