From Place to Place

d before now, because it happened after the armies had quit fighting and while the Peace Conference was bu

best-looking apartment houses in town. For Mullinix there was a short delay downstairs because the doorman, sharp on the lookout to bar pestersome intruders who might annoy the tenants, could not at first make up his mind about Mullinix. In this building there was a rule against solicitors, c

tective of fiction nor yet the detective of sober fact, which is exactly what the latter usually is-a most sober fact; sober, indeed, often to the point of a serious and dignified impressiveness. This man, though, did not have the eagle-bird eye with which the detective of fiction so often is favoured. He did not have the low flattened arches-frontal or pedal-which frequently distinguish the bona-fide article, who comes from Headquarters

which enabled him to hide in the background of commonplaceness and do his work with an assurance which would not have been possible had he worn an air of assurance. In short and in fine, Mullinix no more resembled the traditional hawkshaw than Miss

or her, who was so exquisitely fine and well-bred a creature. She was wearing tailor-m

en't you?" he asked

only just come in when the hall man c

f smile on his face. "He insisted on knowing all about me and my business

the third time you've favoured me with a visit and each of the other times something highly excit

said, "it'

he tea table, this small patrician lady who, having rich kinfolk and friends still richer and a family tree deep-rooted in the most Knickerbockian stratum of the Manhattan social schist, nevertheless chose to earn her own living

a more interesting one than the last thing you helped on. If it weren't business I wouldn'

been indulging in my favourite passion. I've been prowling through a secondhand books

ed-looking volumes in dingy covers restin

rior decoratin

this is my pleasure. The top one of the he

ever write a whole

mes; not games of chance, but games for holidays and parties. I was glancing through it in my car on the way here from the shop. It's most interesting. Why, some of the games it tells about were played i

game for indoors," commented Mullinix. "For a busy woman who's made such a big success

about mushrooms. Besides, who knows but what some day I might have a wealthy client who would want me to design him a mushroom cellar, combining practic

one-idea-at-a-time so

now I suppose you are all so wrapped up in the business you m

to have got me anywhere in particular." He paused to glance about. "W

. This is her

But before I do begin, let me ask you a question. It may simplify matters. Anyhow it has a bearing

n and most of the money. He died six or seven years ago. He was not the most perfect creature in the world, but

ng to be willing to help me on it-I say, before we get through it, providing of course we do get through it, it may

er that I don't know what

more: To-morrow night your cousin is giving a costume par

Day party; not a ver

be going to

director of the affair. But what can my cousin and her April Fools' D

and tell you the tale in some sort of orderly way. Of course I am telling

, won't you? My curiosity i

the Administration. He brought with him a certain communication-a single small sheet or strip of parchment paper containing about twelve or fifteen typewritten li

t they

wording of the dispatch. You would know that handwriting if you saw it. Nearly every man, woman and child in this country who can

he thing has a thril

riendly powers in regard to this particular question. If it should fall into the hands of a certain other power-and be translated-the entire negotiation would be jeopardised. Almost inevitably at least one Oriental nation would withdraw from the conference. The future of the great thin

would almost inevitably succeed in the very thing she has been plotting to bring about, which is the sowing of discord among the Allies, not to mention the increase of a racial distrus

ee.

portance. No copies of the communication were made. The original was put in a place where it was presumed

disappear? I

pendent for life, and under the temptation he weakened and he stole it. But first he stole the key to the cipher, which would make it possible for anyone having both the key and the message to

the thief have dec

is Government, would not trust him to do this. The head plotter demanded the original paper. In the second place an interval of a day and a half elapse

these things with

fession have all been verified. I am sure that he was honest with me. Fear and remorse together made him honest. At present he is-well, let's call it sequestered. No outsider knows he is now under arrest; or perhaps I shoul

by that

s it unless he has destroyed it. It is fair to assume that this other man, being a code expert, already has memori

ned in Washingt

just what-frightened the master crook out of town. With the job only partially accomplished he left Washington and came to New York. But before leaving he gave to Westerfeltner explicit in

iams. Without delay he got Mrs. Williams on the wire. Over the wire a woman's voice told him to meet her at the McPherson Statue in McPherson Square at eleven-fifteen o'clock that night. He was there at the appointed hour, waiting. According to what he tells me, almost p

e merely said to him 'Did you go to the pawnshop?' He answered 'Yes, I went there and I got your keepsake.' 'Thank you,' she answered, 'then give it

But before they parted they exchanged a few other words. Westerfeltner tells me that, having his own safety in mind as well as a natural anxiety for the safe delivery of the paper to

e no one else will ever suspect it of being.' Then she asked him: 'Was there anything else you wanted to say to me?' He told her there was nothing else and she said good night to him and turned and wa

sleep when I rang his doorbell. In his night clothes he got up and let me in; and as soon as I was in I accused him. As a matter of fact the double theft had been discove

ent after the third man, who was this Westerfeltner. The moment I walked in on him I was convinced from his behaviour that I had made no mistake. So I took a chance. I charged him point-blank with being the thief. Almost immediately he weakened. His denials turned to admissions. As a conspirat

ho is the woma

ents and that her voice is that of a refined person. He is sure she is a young woman, but he can furnish no better description of her than this. He claims he was very nervous at the time of their meeting. I figure he was downright excited

of his own, then, as to the

l for Mrs. Williams. Within two or three minutes the bell rang and the clerk answered and somebody asked for Mrs. Williams. The woman entered the booth, came out almost immediately, and went away. All that the drugstore man and his clerk remember about her is that she was a young woman, plainly dressed but well-groomed. The druggist is positive she had dark hair; the clerk is inclined to think her hair was a deep reddish-brown. Neither of them saw he

en there are two

d yet I don't know. I'll come to that part of it in a minute or two. I haven't told you the name of the head

im, as the Hon. Sidney Bertram Goldsborough

y, he is among the persons invited to my cousin's house to-morrow night. I remember seeing his name on the invitation list. That's why you asked me ab

ney Bertram Goldsborough, when you undress him. He was officially suspected of being something other than what he claimed to be, even before Westerfeltner divulged his name. In fact, he fell under suspicion shortly after he turned up in Paris in January of this year, he having obtained a passport for France on the strength of his credentials and on the representation that he wanted to go abroad to interest European financiers in that high-sounding Korean development scheme of his-which, by the way, is purely imaginary. He hung about Paris for three months. How he fou

r means. He followed the officer down to Washington, seduced Westerfeltner by the promise of a fat bribe, and then, just when his scheme was about to succeed, became frightened and returned to New York, trus

there too?" Miss Smith's

ertain

r, rather, who do

the famous South American diplomat, or else she is Miss Evelyn Ballister, sister of Unit

in New York, once at Washington. And let me say now, that at first blush I do not find it in

el sure that the fact that both of them are to be guests of your cousin, Mrs. Hadley-Smith,

has accepted. But I think you must be wrong

ast time you sa

ay, I think it was, but

understood Madame Ybanca would be coming up from Washington thi

cousin sent

banca's reply, filed at half after six o'clock

dignation in Miss Smith's tone-"but surely no one dares to

ht even have to enlist your cousin's co-operation? But I imagine, when you make inquiry, as of course you will do at once, you'll find that sin

the proof would seem to press upon the madame

not. But this much I do know: One of those two ladies is absolutely innocent of any wrongdoing, and the other one-pardon my language-is as guilty as hell

nt most of last fall in Washington. Now while in Washington he was noticeably attentive to just two women-Miss Ballister and Madame Ybanca. Now mark a lengthening of the parallel: Both of them are small women; both of them are slender; both are young, and both of course have refined voices. Neithe

sed to have been most attracted

smiled

d for him or he for either of them. The attentions which he paid them both, impartially, were those which a man might pay to any woman, whether she was married or unmarried, without creating gossip. There is no suggestion here of a dirty sc

s presumed to be in p

he would be called wealthy at all, either by the standards of his own people or of ours. As for Miss Ballister, I have reports which prove she has no source of income except a modest allowance from her brother, the senator, who is in moderate circumstances only; yet it is common talk about Washington that she is extravagant beyond her me

n you have eliminated the circumstance of Goldsborough's having paid perfectly proper attentions to b

till carried a sugge

y with regard to an equally beautiful woman of equally good repute who happens to be a prominent figure in the most exclusive circles of this country and the favourite sister of a leader on the Administration side in the United States Senate. Of course since the developments began to focus suspicion upon them, they have been watched. Yesterday at church Miss Ballister's wrist bag was picked. Along with things of no apparent significance, it contained a not

why

n means to meet his confederate-Miss Ballister or Madame Ybanca, as the case may be-and to receive from her the bit of paper that means so much to him and to those he is serv

ut the news will be coming to me by wire before she is aboard the train. Each one of them is now being shadowed; each one of them will be shadowed for every moment while she is on her way and during her stay here; an

o insure the presence of both women here at one time. He is smart enough; he knows that in this case there is an added element of safety for him in numbers-that it is better to have both present. Then unwittingly the innocent one will serve as a cover for the guilty one. I thin

ibly in that favourite cache of a woman-her stocking. At any rate she will have it hidden about her; that much we may count on for a certainty. And so it must be your task to prevent that paper from changing hands; better still, to get it into your o

do it. Geltmann will not reach the party until later than he expects. The gentleman will be delayed by one or a number of annoying but seemingly unavoidable accidents. Beyond these points I have to confess myself helpless. After those two women pass inside Mrs. Hadley-Smith's front door the real job i

outside means sensational stories in the newspapers. You can make no mistake, and yet for the life of me I cannot see how you are going to guard against making

ng her face. Her expression gave him no cle

mply, "but I must have full au

asking anything

ok from the heap of books there. She opened it and glanced abst

ings she said to him: "I quarr

ch o

ve the paper hidden in her hair or in h

he might hide it. She wouldn't have it in a pocket, would sh

questions she a

and that probably it is rolled up int

ltner parted from it-that's all I

r. I merely was thinking of variou

or less mechanically, she had been seeking. She turned down the

tell her, among other things, that her party may have some rather unique features that she had not inc

amusements she had planned for her All Fools' party, incorporating some entirely new notions into the original scheme. In the morning Miss Mildred Smith visited the handkerchief counter of a leadin

lked through the front door along with a group of helpers from the caterer's. Once inside, he sent a name by the butler to Mrs. Hadley-Smith, who apparently awaited such word, for promptly she came downstairs and personally escorted the ma

f a given undertaking and may take his ease until the time arrives for renewed action upon his part. Along toward nine-thirty o'clock, when he had smoked his third cigar, there came a soft knock thrice repeated upon the door, whereupon h

ies the parcels department of the hotel was equally sure that no box or package consigned to Mr. Goldsborough had been received. Finally, after ten o'clock, the missing costume was brought to the gentleman's door with a message of profound regret from the assistant manager, who expressed sorrow that through the stupidity of some member or members of his force a valued guest had

ng but outwardly calm and indifferent, it seemed that the plain-clothes person took an unreasonably long time for his inquiries touching on the accident. At length, with apologies for detaining him, the headquarters man-n

his fare at a house on West Sixty-third Street, clear across Central Park and nearly halfway across town from Mrs. Hadley-Smith's home. So, what w

ed in the big twin drawing-rooms on the first floor of the Hadley-Smith establishment. These two rooms, with the study behind them and the wide reception hall that ran alongside them, took up the most of the first-floor ground space of the town house

Pantaloons, witches, Pierrots, Columbines, clowns and simples. For those who wore evening dress the hostess had provided a store of dunce caps and dominos of gay colours. Nearly everybody present already knew nearly everybody else. There were only five or six guests from out of town

d out on the floor under the arch connecting

e and after we've had supper there will be dancing. But until midnight we are going to play games-old games, such as I'm told they played in England two hundred years ago

The good-looking widow could always be depended upo

party," went on the hostess. "She has been studying up on the subje

nca coming with her. "Madame Ybanca has on such marvellous, fascinatin

eady, if

r from a big square cardboard box. Seemingly the box was filled to the top

ed it a century or so back. In the game we played as children one person was blindfolded and was spun about three times and then had to lay hands upon one of the others, all

te though-it will take too long to choose from among so many. I think I'll save time by finding a victi

n Madame Ybanca too; she makes an even dozen. I shan't include myself, because I rat

ticipation. From a pocket in her red-and-white clown's blous

s from the handful. "All the others are blank. I know which one is marked, but no one els

ed twelve in turn drew from between

led out Miss Vane, op

ne

d m

min

as it,

," said Madame Ybanca, holding up her

s box-they're all exactly alike. Not you, though, madame. I'll have to prepare you for your r

back of you-so! You see, I'm going

have to be tied?"

just one minute when I'm done with the madame here." With fast-moving fingers she firmly drew the

id Miss Smith. "Am I b

one of my bracelets press into my flesh. I

arther up your arm

't you, and keep it for me? It

ously chased heavy gold, studded with big bosses containin

e Ybanca, very securely bound, stood forth in the midst of a laughing ring, ma

adornment and you'll be r

ely sewed to the fabric by means of twisted wire threads, jingled constantly and busily. The slightest movement set the wires to quivering like antennae and the bells to

and as the latter obeyed, all the bells ti

r her part. Now then, let each person blindfold his or her eyes wit

ou might disarrange that lovely hair ornament of yours unless you have help.

dark," said Miss Ballist

hooded?" call

of assent

ou with her hands fastened as they are behind her. It is your task to keep out of her way;

ady

the rest all managed to evade her. She halted, laughing in admission of the handicap upon her, when before she had been so confident of a capture; then, changing her tactics, she undertook to stalk down some member of the blindfolded flock by stealthy, gentle forward steps. But softly though she might advance, the telltale bells gave ample notice of her whereabouts,

sy as it seemed

t once, watching the hooded figures keenly, as though to detect any who might seek to cheat by lifting hi

st her along the walls, fleeing from one room to the other and back again-singly, by pairs and threes. They touche

r made her halt. The whisperer was her cousin. Unobserved by the madame and unheard by any one else, Miss Smith spoke a word or two in her cousin's ear. The next instant almos

o's caught?" crie

better," cried Miss Smith. "You may halt a bit to get yo

in an undertone to her victim as Miss Smith, deftly freeing the youn

also under her breath. "I was stupid or a

o the new wearer's shoulders, the madame, covering up her

ward a certain quarter of the same room in which they stood. Raising her eyebrows to show she understood the widow moved toward the place that

Mrs. Hadley-Smith, disregarding easier chances to make a capture, strove with all her power to touch one particular chosen quarry; would have seen how twice, by a quick twist of a graceful young body, the hunted one eluded those two tied hands outthrust to seize her; how at the third time of trying the huntress

e interludes of stratagem and design, though it was by no means hard for them to sense that agai

ture exuberant and of a high spirit. "I wonder who it is now?" She threw back her head, endeavouring to

mith as keeper of the rules. "It would spoil th

for in no more time than it takes to tell of it she had drawn Miss Ballister's smooth arms round behind their owner's back and was busied at the next step of her offices. Almost it seemed the girl surrendered reluctantly, as though she were loath to go through with the r?le that had fallen

tly," murmured the prisoner, as involuntarily

the rounded shoulders of the girl. As she brought the jingling harness down in its place her hands lingered for one fleeting space where a heavy, quaint, old-fashioned gold locket-an heirloom that might have come down from a grandmother's days-was dangling

th a sharp catch: "This room-it's so warm. I feel a bit faint, really I do. Please untie me. I shan't

dly," said Miss Smith. Then an inspiration

hey're dodging about trying to keep away from you we'll slip away together and be at the other end of the house." By a gesture of one han

elp Miss Ballister and me to play a joke on the others. You ar

d replaced it over Mrs. Hadley-Smith's head which bent forward to receive i

Ballister's ear. "See how well the t

as Mrs. Hadley-Smith went toward them. In the same instant Miss Smith silently had opened the nearest door and, becko

d little laugh. She turned, pr

In her eagerness to be fr

ells stop ringing and the hoax begins to dawn on them. There's a little study right here at the e

it was agitated. "Being tied this way gives one such a trapped sort of feeling-it's horrid, really it is. I'

and. Come

Miss Smith hurried her to the study door masked beneath the

adily at them. At sight of the unexpected stranger Miss Ballister halted. She uttered a shocked little exclamation and recoiled, p

been shut behind her,

said the

om the shrinking figure,

voice was accusing and hard. "The stolen paper i

her pallor was ghastly. Little blemishes under the skin stood out in blotches against its dead white, and out of the mask her eyes glared in a dumb terror. She made no outcry, but her lips, stiff

ng to faint!" w

the rug. She lay there at their feet, a pitiable little bundle. But there w

and opened it, and from the small receptacle revealed within, where a miniature might once have been, she took forth a tightly folded half shee

ne glance at the familiar signature, written below the clos

hanksgiving and congratulation in the way he sa

ting off the binding about the relax

or under the setting of a ring possibly; or in a hair ornament possibly; and I followed that theory. Two tests that I made convinced me that Madame Y

d hersel

eep his or her hands upon any precious object that is concealed about the pers

you had

lded with a thick silk handkerchief I watched her, and I saw that while with one hand she groped her way about, she kept the other hand constantly clutched upon this locket, as though to make sure of the safety of something there. So then

er hands-didn't

her hands too. It was a part

others were

ed. Claire has her explanations all ready. They'll miss this girl of course and wonder what has become of her, but the explanation provides for that: She was taken with a sudden indisposition and slipped awa

ack to her hotel. You might tell her that there is to be no prosecution and no unpleasant notoriety for her if only she keeps

stion her, then, after

ving up to the house pretty soon-I had a telephone message five minutes ago telling me to expect him shortly. So I'm going out to break some sad news to him on the side

est. I want to thank you again in behalf of the Service for the wonderful thing you've

old secondhand book, it is; you saw it yesterday. Maybe I can convert you to read

ly, "you've made a true