ced the will and note....

"Why did she stick it away in a pack of new envelopes, if she wanted it
to be found?" Strawn had demanded irritably, and had not been appeased
by Dundee's suggestion: "Because she did not want Lydia, in dusting the
desk, to see it and be alarmed."

Yes, he had been busy enough, but what, actually, had he to show for his
industry? He had worked up three good cases--the first against Lydia
Carr, the second against Dexter Sprague, and the third against Ralph
Hammond--only to have them knocked to pieces almost as fast as he had
conceived them.... Of course Lydia Carr might be lying to give Sprague
an alibi, but Dundee was convinced that she was telling the truth and
that she hated Sprague too much to fake an alibi for him.... Of course
there was always Judge Marshall, but--

Through the closed door came sounds which Dundee presently identified as
connected with Penny Crain's arrival--the emphatic click of her heels;
the quick opening and shutting of desk drawers....

The down-hearted young detective debated the question of taking his
perplexities out to her, but decided against it. She probably wanted to
hear no more of his theories, was undoubtedly burning with righteous
indignation against him because of Ralph Hammond.... Did she still
consider herself engaged to Ralph, in spite of the fact that young
Hammond had gallantly insisted upon releasing her from her promise as
soon as he suspected that it had been given merely to prove her faith in
his innocence?

It was a decidedly unhappy young detective whom Sanderson greeted upon
his arrival at nine o'clock.

The new district attorney, who had held office since November, was a
big, good-natured, tolerant man, who looked younger than his 35 years
because of his freckles and his always rumpled mop of sandy hair. But
those who sought to take advantage of his good nature in the courtroom
found themselves up against as keen a lawyer and prosecutor as could be
found in the whole state, or even in the Middle West.

"Well, boy!" he greeted Dundee genially but with an undertone of
solemnity in his rich, jury-swaying baritone. "Looks like we've got a
sensational murder on our hands. It's not every day Hamilton can rate a
headline like 'BROADWAY BELLE MURDERED AT BRIDGE'--to quote a Chicago
paper.... But I'm afraid there's not enough mystery in it to suit your
tastes."

Dundee grinned wryly. "I've been pretty down in the mouth all morning
because th