w to the murder, however, will give us a clew to the whole
thing, for it is certain that somebody has attempted to hang that crime
on you."

"How about George Lerton?" Prale asked.

"We know that he tried to help smash your alibi by telling a falsehood,
and by sending those notes to the barber and the merchant. But we do not
know his motive, unless it is simply a hatred of you, Sid, and envy of
the million dollars you got in Honduras. I'm going to get out of here
now, and get busy."

"Anything for us to do?" Prale asked.

"Keep out of trouble--that is the principal thing. It appears that every
time either of you goes out, you get knocked on the head. I'll report
again as soon as I can."

Jim Farland left them and hurried from the hotel. He went to the
hostelry where Rufus Shepley had met his death, was admitted to the
suite, and made an exhaustive investigation, which revealed nothing of
importance.

He visited the New York offices of the company in which Shepley had been
interested, and questioned officials and clerks, but got no inkling of a
state of affairs that might have led to a murder. He was told that the
company's business was in proper shape, and that Rufus Shepley had had
no financial trouble of any sort so far as his associates knew.

Farland left the office and continued his investigations. In the evening
he went to his home for a meal, and admitted to himself that he did not
know any more than when he had started out that morning.

"It gets my goat!" he said to his reflection in the bathroom mirror.
"I'll have to begin working from some other starting point. I've made a
mistake somewhere, or overlooked something that I should have seen.
Makes me sore!"

The telephone bell rang, and Farland went to the instrument to hear the
voice of a man he did not know.

"I understand that you are interested in the Shepley murder case," his
caller said.

"I am working on it, yes. Who is talking?" Farland demanded.

"I'm not ready to mention any names. If you want to hang up, go ahead
and you'll miss something important. Or if you want to listen for a
minute----"

"I'll listen!" Farland said.

"I know a lot about that Shepley case, but I am in a position where I
have to be careful. If you'll do as I say, you can learn something you'd
like to know."

"What do you want me to do?" Farland asked.

"Meet me in some place where nobody will see us talking, and I'll tell
you a few things. But I must have you