apartment to look over the day's news. No sooner had he
opened the paper than this headline met his eyes:

PROMINENT BROKER MISSING

Marsh dropped the paper on his knees and thought for a moment. Ever
since Tuesday morning, when the trouble had occurred, he had
carefully scanned the papers for reports of any missing people who
might in any way be connected with this occurrence. Here at last was
an announcement that looked promising. He began to read the article.

Richard Townsend Merton, the well known La Salle Street
broker, has been missing far ten days, it was learned
yesterday. Gilbert Hunt, the general manager of the Merton
business, notified the police that Mr. Merton had not
appeared at his office, his clubs, or his hotel for some
days. A telegraphed inquiry to his wife, who resides with
an invalid son in Arizona, brought the reply that Mr. Merton
had not been there. The manager is inclined to believe that
Mr. Merton has either wandered away during a lapse of memory,
or may have met with an accident.

The article then continued with the usual outline of what the police
were doing, and a description of the broker's life and habits. Marsh
learned from this that Merton had closed his country home in Hubbard
Woods when his wife moved to Arizona with their son. He had lived
for the past two years at a downtown hotel, and spent most of his
evenings at his clubs.

After reading the entire article carefully, Marsh cut out the
accompanying photographs of Merton and the absent wife and son. Here
was something worth investigating, he thought, for he remembered the
cuff button with the initial "M," which Morgan had discovered.

For upwards of an hour Marsh sat in deep deliberation, figuring how
he could get in close touch with the situation without in any way
disclosing his official connection or real interest in the matter.
At last he decided to follow a plan which he had used successfully
in connection with two previous cases. He looked up the address of
the Merton offices, and putting on his coat and hat, took the
Sheridan Road motor bus downtown.

Marsh located the Merton offices on the fifteenth floor of the La
Salle Trust Building, and paused a moment inside the door to look
the place over. He found himself in a large room which contained
several stenographers and clerks. To his left was a grill work with
a window marked, "Cashier," and beyond this, several me