this evening. We
want no 'first I will and then I won't' helpers in this business."

Carshaw met those beady brown eyes steadily. "I deserved that," he said.
"Now, perhaps, you'll forget a passing mood. I have come to like
Winifred."

Clancy stared suddenly at a clock.

"Tick, tick!" he said. "Eight fifteen. _Nom d'un pipe_, now I
understand."

For the first time the true explanation of Senator Meiklejohn's covert
glance at the clock the previous morning had occurred to him. That wily
gentleman wanted Winifred out of the house for her day's work before the
police interviewed Rachel Craik. He had fought hard to gain even a few
hours in the effort to hinder inquiry.

"What's bitten you, Frog?" inquired the chief.

Probably--who knows?--but there was some reasonable likelihood that the
Senator's name might have reached Carshaw's ears had not the telephone
bell jangled. Steingall picked up the receiver.

"Long-distance call. This is it, I guess," and his free hand enjoined
silence. The talk was brief and one-sided. Steingall smiled as he
replaced the instrument.

"Now, we're ready for you, Mr. Carshaw," he said, lolling back in his
chair again. "The Misses Craik and Bartlett have arrived for the night
at the Maples Inn, Fairfield, Connecticut. Thanks to you, we knew that
some one was desperately anxious that Winifred should leave New York.
Thanks to you, too, she has gone. Neither her aunt nor the other
interested people cared to have her strolling in Central Park with an
eligible and fairly intelligent bachelor like Mr. Rex Carshaw."

Carshaw's lips parted eagerly, but a gesture stayed him.

"Yes. Of course, I know you're straining at the leash, but please don't
go off on false trails. You never lose time casting about for the true
line. This is the actual position of affairs: A man known as Ralph V.
Voles, assisted by an amiable person named Mick the Wolf--he was so
christened in Leadville, where they sum up a tough accurately--hauled
Mr. Ronald Tower into the river. For some reason best known to himself,
Mr. Tower treats the matter rather as a joke, so the police can carry
it no further. But Voles is associated with Rachel Craik, and was in her
house during several hours on the night of the river incident and the
night following. It is almost safe to assume that he counseled the
girl's removal from New York because she is 'the image of her mother.'
One asks why this very natural fact should render Winifred Ba