d of this string by any means. Did I not
tell you that another opened the safe?--a fellow who has been acting
queerly ever since I caught sight of him? He is connected with this
complicated affair, although how still remains to be seen."

"Who was the man?"

"He gave his name to the policeman as Jack Watkins."

"I never heard that name before. How does he look?"

Adam Adams described the fellow minutely, but Raymond Case shook his
head.

"I can't place him. But that is not strange," he added. "I know very
few folks in this neighborhood."

"Do you know a man named Matlock Styles."

"Not very well--I met him once, when he was calling on Mr. Langmore on
business. He is an Englishman, fairly well to do, who lives in an old
colonial house on the Harper road, a mile and a half, I should say,
from here."

"Do you know what business this Styles had with Mr. Langmore?"

"I don't remember very well--but hold up, yes, I do. He owed Mr.
Langmore some money. The two put through some sort of real estate
deal."

"How much did Styles owe Mr. Langmore?"

"I don't know exactly, but it was a large amount, fifteen or twenty
thousand dollars."

"What sort of a man would you take this Styles to he?"

"Oh, he is a big, overbearing Englishman, one of the kind with
mutton-chop whiskers and a red nose. He is a great chap for fast
horses, and I've heard he has quite a stable of them over to his place.
He is also a dog fancier."

"Has he been here lately?"

"I don't know. Perhaps Margaret could tell you. But what has this to
do--"

"Nothing at all, perhaps. In the safe with the bankbills were some
mortgage papers given to Mr. Langmore by this Matlock Styles. But the
two may not have the least connection with each other."

The two had been walking away from the house and now the detective
turned back. As he did so he thought of the bit of paper he had picked
up in the shrubbery. He struck a match with one hand and held up the
slip with the other. It was a memorandum, running as follows:

$8,000
5,000
3,000
$16,000
-------
.03%
-------
$480.00

Adam Adams studied the memorandum with interest. The amounts at the
top were those of the mortgages given by Matlock Styles to Barry
Langmore. Evidently somebody had figured out what the interest would
be at three per cent.

"What is that?" asked Raymond Case.

"A bit of paper I picked up around here. It doe