advertently touched by a wet finger, had
smeared the writing. But the letter had been sent the day before the
death of John Siders, and it had been registered from the main post
office in G--. This was sufficient for Muller. Then he turned to the
desk. Here also there was nothing that could help him. But a sudden
thought, came to him, and he took up the blotting pad. This, to his
delight, was in the form of a book with a handsome embroidered cover. It
looked comparatively new and was, as Muller surmised, a gift from Miss
Roemer to her betrothed. But few of the pages had been used, and on two
of them a closely written letter had been blotted several times, showing
that there had been several sheets of the letter. Muller held it up to
the looking-glass, but the repeated blotting had blurred the writing
to such an extent that it was impossible to decipher any but a few
disconnected words, which gave no clue. On a page further along on
the blotter, however, he saw what appeared to be the impression of an
address. He held it up to the glass and gave a whistle of delight. The
words could be plainly deciphered here:

"MR. LEO PERNBURG,
"FRANKFURT AM MAIN,
"MAINZER LANDSTRASSE."

and above the name was a smear which, after a little study, could be
deciphered as the written word "Registered."

With this page of the blotter carefully tucked away in his pocketbook,
Muller hurried to the post office, arriving just at closing hour. He
made himself known at once to the postmaster, and asked to be shown
the records of registered letters sent on a certain date. Here he found
scheduled a letter addressed to Mr. Leo Pernburg, Frankfurt am Main,
sent by John Siders, G--, Josef Street 7.

Muller then hastened to the telegraph office and despatched a lengthy
telegram to the postal authorities in Frankfurt am Main. When the answer
came to him next morning, he packed his grip and took the first express
train leaving G--. He first made a short visit, however, to Albert
Graumann's cell in the prison. Muller was much too kind-hearted not to
relieve the anxiety of this man, to whom such mental strain might easily
prove fatal. He told Graumann that he was going in search of evidence
which might throw light on the death of Siders, and comforted the
prisoner with the assurance that he, Muller, believed Graumann innocent,
and believed also that within a day or two he would return t