heir headlights splitting the
frigid night. He was at the curb to meet them as they pulled up. He
told his story briefly and concisely. Leverage inspected the young man
closely, made note of his license number and the number of his
taxi-cab. Then he turned to his companion, who had stood by, a silent
and interested observer.

"S'pose you talk to him a bit, Carroll."

"I'm David Carroll," introduced the other man. "I'm connected with the
police department. There's a few things you tell which are rather
peculiar. Any objections to discussing them?"

In spite of himself, Spike felt a genial warming toward this boyish-faced
man. He had heard of Carroll, and rather feared his prowess; but now that
he was face to face with him, he found himself liking the chap. Not only
that, but he was conscious of a sense of protection, as if Carroll were
there for no other purpose than to take care of him, to see that he
received a square deal.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Carroll, I'll be glad to tell you anything I know."

"You have said, Walters, that the passenger you picked up at the Union
Station was a woman."

"Yes, sir, it was a woman."

"Are you sure?"

"Why, yes, sir. I couldn't very well be mistaken. You see--o-o-oh!
You're thinking maybe it was a man in woman's clothes? Is that it, sir?"

Carroll smiled.

"What do _you_ think?"

"That's impossible, sir. It was a woman--I'd swear to that."

"Pretty positive, eh?"

"Absolutely, sir. Besides, take the matter of the overcoat the--the--body
has on. Even if what you think was so, sir--that it was a woman dressed
up like a man--and if he had gotten rid of the women's clothes, where
would he have gotten the clothes to put on?"

"H-m! Sounds logical. How about the suit-case you said this woman had?"

"Yonder it is--right on the front beside me, where it has been all
the time."

"And you tell us that between the time you left the Union Station and the
time you got here a man got into the taxicab, was killed by the woman,
the woman got out, and you heard nothing?"

"Yes, sir," said Spike simply. "Just that, sir."

"Rather hard to believe, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir. That's why I called the police." Chief Leverage was shivering
under the impact of the winter blasts.

"S'pose we take a look at the bird, David," he suggested, nodding toward
the taxi. "That might tell us something."

Carroll nodded. The men entered the taxi, and Leverage flashed a
pocket-torch in the face of the dea