, since the affair of the Mysterious Goddess, the
last case in which Duvall had been concerned, and he was beginning to
feel that he would welcome with outstretched arms a chance to make use
once more of his exceptional talents as an investigator of crime. Hence
he had received Mrs. Morton's telephone call with more than ordinary
interest.

The latter had told him nothing of her reasons for interviewing him,
contenting herself with the bare statement that she had a letter to him
from Mr. Stapleton. This, however, had been enough to set Duvall's
nerves to tingling and to cause him to conclude that the mysterious
woman who desired to interview him in such a hurry came on no ordinary
business. Hence he waited with some impatience for the arrival of half
past nine.

A few moments after the half hour, a large automobile swept up the
drive, and Duvall, with a nod to his wife, went back to the house to
receive his guest. She was waiting in the library when he entered.

"I am Mrs. Morton, of New York," his caller began, handing him Mr.
Stapleton's letter.

Duvall read it, but it told him little.

"Mr. Stapleton informs me," he said, looking at his visitor, "that you
are in some difficulty or other, and asks that, if I can possibly do so,
I try to help you out of it. Did he not also say that I have for some
time past given up the active practice of my profession?"

Mrs. Morton nodded, then bent eagerly forward.

"Yes, Mr. Duvall. He told me that. But he also said that, when you heard
the circumstances, you might be persuaded to assist me. I am in very
deep trouble, and I fear that there is not a moment to be lost."

"What is the nature of your difficulty, madam?" Duvall asked.

"It--it concerns my daughter. I am the mother of Ruth Morton." She made
this announcement as though she fully expected Duvall to realize its
significance at once, but the latter's face remained quite blank.

"Yes?" he replied, vaguely. "And who is Ruth Morton?"

Mrs. Morton looked at him in pained surprise. The thought that anyone
could possibly be ignorant of her daughter's fame and success seemed
unbelievable to her. Was not Ruth's name a household word among moving
picture "fans" from coast to coast? "Why--Ruth Morton--the motion
picture star," she replied. "Surely you must have heard of her."

Duvall smiled, but shook his head.

"I never go to motion pictures," he said. "But that is of no importance.
What has happened to your daughter?"