him out of the way?"

"Not that I know of, unless--no, I can not think of any."

"Was he in the habit of carrying money?"

"He never carried it far. No, he never had more than enough for
current expenses."

Mr. Jamieson got up then and began to pace the room. It was an
unwonted concession to the occasion.

"Then I think we get at it by elimination. The chances are against
flight. If he was hurt, we find no trace of him. It looks almost like
an abduction. This young Doctor Walker--have you any idea why Mr.
Innes should have gone there last night?"

"I can not understand it," Gertrude said thoughtfully. "I don't think
he knew Doctor Walker at all, and--their relations could hardly have
been cordial, under the circumstances."

Jamieson pricked up his ears, and little by little he drew from us the
unfortunate story of Halsey's love affair, and the fact that Louise was
going to marry Doctor Walker.

Mr. Jamieson listened attentively.

"There are some interesting developments here," he said thoughtfully.
"The woman who claims to be the mother of Lucien Wallace has not come
back. Your nephew has apparently been spirited away. There is an
organized attempt being made to enter this house; in fact, it has been
entered. Witness the incident with the cook yesterday. And I have a
new piece of information."

He looked carefully away from Gertrude. "Mr. John Bailey is not at his
Knickerbocker apartments, and I don't know where he is. It's a hash,
that's what it is. It's a Chinese puzzle. They won't fit together,
unless--unless Mr. Bailey and your nephew have again--"

And once again Gertrude surprised me. "They are not together," she
said hotly. "I--know where Mr. Bailey is, and my brother is not with
him."

The detective turned and looked at her keenly.

"Miss Gertrude," he said, "if you and Miss Louise would only tell me
everything you know and surmise about this business, I should be able
to do a great many things. I believe I could find your brother, and I
might be able to--well, to do some other things." But Gertrude's
glance did not falter.

"Nothing that I know could help you to find Halsey," she said
stubbornly. "I know absolutely as little of his disappearance as you
do, and I can only say this: I do not trust Doctor Walker. I think he
hated Halsey, and he would get rid of him if he could."

"Perhaps you are right. In fact, I had some such theory myself. But
Doctor Walker went out la