patiently behind a plate piled high with sandwiches.
There was coffee, too, and before the butler left them alone, he stood
an interesting decanter on the table. A shadow of gloom that
overspread the big man's extensive countenance was visibly lightened by
this.

"Bolt's gone home," he announced. "Mrs. Bolt and Jean must be
suffering agonies of curiosity. I stayed here because I felt I might
be able to help you."

"Stout fellow," said Creighton with a grin, and selected a huge
sandwich. "Where do you think we'd better begin?"

"There's no use adopting that superior attitude with me. You know
perfectly well I come in handy at times. Say--I'm sore at Bolt! He
did you out of a good job."

"Me? How come?"

"Did you notice three solid-looking citizens in the hall when you
arrived? Well, that was the Board of Selectmen of Hambleton, yes,
sirree, b'gosh. Bolt had told 'em you were coming and they were all
het up. They don't get along with the county crowd too well, and for
that reason they'd about decided to retain your services just to show
they were ready to hold up their end. Then Bolt came along and blurted
out that he had commissioned you to investigate the matter and they
pulled their horns in like a bunch of frightened snails. If he had
only kept still you could have made a deal with them."

"I see. And what makes you think I'd be guilty of the indelicacy of
letting two outfits pay me for the same job?"

"'Thnot 'n 'ndelicathy," said Mr. Krech vigorously through a sandwich.
"If Bolt can have a second string to his bow, why can't you have a
couple of employers?"

"Krech, you're a nice fellow with all the instincts of a crook."

"Huh. I suppose nothing could ever lead you from the narrow path of
rectitude?"

"No," laughed Creighton, "nothing ever could!"

"Well, it won't be the Hambleton Selectmen, anyway. The three of them
were pale when they discovered how close they'd been to spending a
bunch of money unnecessarily."

They finished their lunch without the loss of much time, the detective
setting the pace. Once into a case, he could be as patient and
plodding as an ox, but the preliminaries found him restless and
impatient. He detested the inevitable gathering of masses and masses
of information that must subsequently be pulled to pieces and mulled
over until the most of it had been discarded and the important residue
determined. It all took so much time--precious time that the crimina