He
might miss now an important communication bearing on the murders
or, what for the time was to him more important, the kidnapping.

The search went on relentlessly, the police of all the near--by
cities and states taking part in the search. It soon began to be
felt that the kidnapping was closely tied up with the murders of
the octogenarians. It was at the request of the survivors of the
Tontine group that Justice Higginbotham's camp was not molested.
It was readily seen that constant surveillance by the press and
police would be a highly undesirable and perhaps a very dangerous
thing for the ten aged survivors.

Arrangements were, therefore, set up for periodic statements by a
member of the group. The press of the country nevertheless felt
free to make its own search and indulge in its own surmises and
guesses.

One week after the first murder was announced it became apparent
that they were no nearer a solution than they were at the
beginning. Moral publications were beginning to clamor for
results. The people of New York City were clamoring for results.
Editors were profanely wiring their expensive representatives for
results. The patience of the police and the reporters was wearing
thin. During all this clamor the only thing that came from the
camps over the Canadian border, from the hundreds of star
reporters was--nothing. Even Jimmy was unmercifully berated for
falling down on the job, Jimmy, who one short week before was
praised to the skies for springing one of the greater newspaper
stories in history.

It was apparent to those who were close to him that Professor
Brierly was forging in silence a chain, link by link, that would
bridge the gap between doubt and certainty. He was sending and
receiving telegrams, without for one moment relaxing his vigilance
of the Higginbotham camp and its ten old men. The evening of the
day after the receipt of the last telegram, McCall in the hope of
drawing the old man out said:

"My vacation ends next week, Professor. When I get back to New
York I may be able to speed up things in the matter of the
Schurman murder. You're staying here the rest of the summer aren't
you?" he concluded innocently.

"Yes."

"Really, Professor, I know you don't like to make guesses, but
this is getting on all our nerves. How near to a solution are
you?"

"If I were a lawyer or a newspaper man," the old man said tartly,
"I should make a guess and arrest the murderer tomorrow. But
law