at least. There was much space devoted to the
theory involving the two New Yorkers with the murder of the racketeer
and gambler, "Swallow-tail Sammy" Savelli, but only two pieces of
information held Dundee's interest.

The first was a reminder to the public that certain theatrical columns
of Sunday, February 9, had carried the rumor of Dexter Sprague's
engagement to Dolly Martin, popular "baby" star of Altamont Pictures,
and that the same columns of Tuesday, February 11, had carried Sprague's
own denial of the engagement--Dolly having "nothing to say."

"So that is why Nita tried to commit suicide on February 9--and her
attempted suicide, with its tragic consequences for Lydia Carr, is
probably the reason Sprague gave up his movie star," Dundee mused. "Did
Nita let him persuade her to go into the blackmail business, in order to
hold his wandering, mercenary affections?... Lord! The men some women
love!"

The second bit of information which the papers supplied him was winnowed
by Dundee himself, from a news summary of Nita Leigh's last year of life
as chorus girl, specialty dancer, "double" in pictures, and director of
the Easter play at Forsyte-on-the-Hudson.

"If Nita got a divorce or even a legal separation from her husband after
her talk with Gladys Earle a year ago, she got it in New York and so
secretly that no New York paper has been able to dig it up," Dundee
concluded. "_And yet she had promised to marry Ralph Hammond!_"

A bellboy with a telegram interrupted the startling new train of thought
which that conclusion had started.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

With a sharp exclamation of excitement and triumph, Dundee read Penny's
telegram:

"HAMILTON EVENING SUN DATE OF MAY FIFTH NINETEEN TWENTY TWO
PUBLISHED STORY OF SUICIDE ANITA LEE ARTISTS MODEL BUT PICTURE
ACCOMPANYING WAS UNDOUBTEDLY NITA LEIGH SELIM'S STOP NO CORRECTION
FOLLOWED STOP WHAT DOES IT MEAN"

"What does it mean?" Dundee repeated exultantly to himself. "It means,
my darling little Penny, that _anyone in Hamilton who had any interest
in the matter believed Nita Leigh Selim was dead, and thought the
spelling of her name was wrong, not the picture itself_!... The question
is _who_ read that story and gazed on that picture with exquisite
relief?"

Two hours before he had dismissed as impossible or highly impractical
his impulse to investigate the eleven-year-old scandal on Flora Hackett,
who was now Flora Miles, as tol