ce warned him that telephones, like walls,
sometimes have ears. However, he realized that she had told him
something worth while. It was unlikely that there was more than one
counterfeiting band in Chicago at this time. She had given him a
clue, which, like the cuff button, might tie up at any moment with
some other developments. Moreover, he now knew that his men were
planning to get away and that something must be done in a hurry.
After finishing his luncheon he wrote his newly acquired downtown
address on a slip of paper, wrapped it in a bill, and then signaled
to the girl that he desired his check. He handed her the bill
carelessly, and said in a low voice, without looking up, "Something
inside for you." She returned in a moment with his change, and as
she laid it on the table, said simply, "I understand." Marsh then
started out on his search for information regarding Merton.

While Marsh was confident that he would get, the most important part
of his information at the hotel where Merton had lived, he decided
to work up to that point rather than start there. One reason for
this decision lay in the fact that night employees of the hotel
could probably give him more valuable information regarding Merton's
movements than those on duty during the day. He was only a block
from Michigan Avenue, where the clubs at which Merton spent most of
his time were located. At these places he secured little information
that would further his quest. Merton had impressed the employees of
the clubs simply as a quiet man who had dropped in to read his
newspaper or book, or have quiet chats with other members with whom
he was acquainted. Occasionally he was known to engage in a game of
billiards or cards. It was hardly the life of a man who could have
such close associations with a gang of counterfeiters as to draw
upon himself an act of revenge or the necessity of removing him as a
matter of protection. So far as Marsh could discover, Merton had
never presented a questionable bill to the clubs. In fact, so far as
anyone connected with them could recollect, all payments of any
character had been made by check. Marsh had pursued inquiries along
this line, because, while almost anyone is liable at one time or
another, to be in possession of counterfeit money, such a happening
in Merton's case might have possessed unusual significance. It was
Marsh's desire to ascertain, so far as possible, if there had been
any connection of even a remote