coming was relaxed.

One day, nearly two months after the theft of Kull's car, a strange man
called on the real estate dealer, later left his office, and was not
seen afterward. Mr. Rack's men discovered the fellow to be a worthless,
discharged employe of a motor concern in Rochester. His name was Coster.

It was but a day or two later that Kull suddenly left home. Later it was
learned he was in Griffin, registered at the American hotel under an
assumed name.

"And it was at that time, undoubtedly," said Mr. Rack, "that, having
taken the Torpedo from wherever it was concealed, Coster was on the way
west with it. Kull was in Griffin to meet him. He visited the old farm
where he had once lived for a short time. He carried the planks over the
hill to the icehouse, that his friend might readily run the Torpedo down
the embankment and so into that building. There are some links missing
as to this assertion but it will be found substantially correct when the
details are known. For it was certainly the intention that the Torpedo
should be placed in this new and more distant hiding-place. Kull had
purchased a supply of Fielderson's automobile and carriage paint. He
mentioned to a clerk in the store that he was going to use the material
on an old surrey he had. He owned no such vehicle. Hence my conclusion,
at this time, that the paint was to be used in a further concealment of
the identity of the Torpedo.

"Again I heard from Harkville that Kull, after a brief stay at home,
following his having been in Griffin, was once more out of town. I was
busy with other matters and did not immediately take up the threads of
the case again. I was about to do so yesterday," and here Mr. Rack
smiled toward Mr. Wagg, who sat with eyes and mouth open, his glasses
perched on the very top of his bald head,--"when Mr. Phil and Mr. David,
here, came in upon me, introduced by one of our best young lawyers. They
were in possession of so much information that, dovetailing their
statements with my own previous knowledge, I had a fairly perfect fabric
of fact. From this it was simply a little study to deduce practically
certain probabilities. However, I spent a few hours piecing out and
verifying my threads of information. I found that Kull's poor mother
could probably live but a few days or weeks, at most. I found a man
named Coster had been locked up for intoxication here in Griffin, that
he was first seen in town on Saturday and his clothing was