ois said. "But
please don't let's quarrel about poor Nita again. She's dead now, and I
want to do anything I can to help bring her murderer to justice."

"There's nothing you can do, Lois, and I hope Mr.--ah--Dundee will not
find it necessary to quiz you again."

Dundee reached for his hat. "I hope so, too, Mr. Dunlap.... By the way,
you are president of the Chamber of Commerce, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am! And we're having a meeting tonight, at which that Sprague
man's bid on making a historical movie of Hamilton will be turned
down--unanimously. Now that the Selim woman isn't here to vamp my
fellow-members into doing anything she wants, I think I can safely
promise you that Dexter Sprague will have no further business in
Hamilton--unless it is police business!"

"Thanks for the tip, Mr. Dunlap," Dundee said evenly. "I hope you
enjoyed your fishing trip. Where do you fish, sir?"

"A tactful way of asking for my alibi, eh?" Dunlap was heavily
sarcastic. "I left Friday afternoon for my own camp in the mountains, up
in the northwest part of the state. I drove my own car, went alone,
spent the week-end alone, and got back this noon. I read of the murder
in a paper I picked up in a village on my way home. I didn't like Nita
Selim, and I don't give a damn about her being murdered, except that my
wife's name is in all the papers.... Any questions?"

"None, thanks!" Dundee answered curtly, then turned to Lois Dunlap who
was watching the two men with troubled, embarrassed eyes. "I am very
grateful to you, Mrs. Dunlap, for your kindness."

The detective's angry resentment of Peter Dunlap's attitude lasted until
he had circled Mirror Lake and was on the road into Hamilton. Then
commonsense intervened. Dunlap was undoubtedly devoted to his wife.
Penny had said that he had "never looked at another woman." It was
rather more than natural that he should be in a futile, blustering rage
at the outcome of Lois' friendship for the little Broadway dancer....

Free of anger, his mind reverted to the story Lois Dunlap had told him.
For in it, he was sure, was hidden the key to the mystery of Nita
Selim's murder. Not at all interested in the proposition to organize a
Little Theater in Hamilton, Nita had been seized with a strange
excitement as soon as she was shown photographs of a large group of
Hamilton's richest and most prominent inhabitants.... But there was the
rub! _A large group!_ Would that group of possible suspects never narr