n anything more, West thanked
him, and returned to the taxi.

"Back to the Club," he ordered briefly, and settled into his seat to
think.

CHAPTER XIII

238 WRAY STREET

The information thus gained had been small enough, yet sufficient to
stimulate his belief that he was at least upon the right trail. The
sudden departure of this man Hobart, and the fact that no young children
were in the family, were important items to consider. Coolidge then had
not visited this cottage to aid a widow and orphans. There had been some
other object in his call. The girl must have known and understood the
real purpose; that was why they both acquiesced so readily to his
remaining outside in the car. It was part of their mutual plan to thus
leave him in ignorance. Yet they had made a mistake in taking him along
at all. This error alone gave him now an opportunity to unravel the
riddle. But did it? What did he know? Merely that Coolidge had not gone
to this house on an errand of charity; that the occupant called himself,
temporarily, perhaps, Jim Hobart; that his family consisted of two
women, undescribed except as to age; and that all three had mysteriously
disappeared together. He might take it for granted that this
disappearance was caused by the death of Coolidge, but, they had left no
trail, no inkling as to where they had gone. He might suspect this sudden
vanishing had direct connection with the crime he was endeavouring to
solve, but he possessed absolutely no proof, and, apparently, any further
movement on his part was completely blocked.

More puzzled than ever, although now fully convinced that murder had been
committed, West could do nothing but wait the reappearance of Sexton. The
latter arrived promptly on time, but, much to West's disappointment,
merely nodded his head negatively to the general inquiry as to whether or
not he had made any discoveries. The early hour enabled the host to
secure a secluded table in the dining room, but there was no effort at
conversation until after the meal had been ordered. Then West told his
story. The retelling of these incidents of the afternoon, coupled with
Sexton's evident interest in the narrative, and the questions the man
asked, caused the discoveries made to assume a greater importance than
before. His listener seemed to sense the situation clearly.

"It wasn't no mistake, your goin' out there, sir," he said, confidently.
"What we know now gives us something to work o