he records
showed, had conveyed Ebbe Petersen's property to a man named Keilly,
equally unsubstantial, who had passed it over to one O'Rourke. Then
Browne had suddenly recorded Mrs. Petersen's deed giving O'Rourke the
very same property. Thus this O'Rourke, whoever he may have been, held
all the Petersen property by two chains of title, one through Clark and
Keilly, and the other through Mrs. Petersen. Then he had gone ahead and
deeded it all away to various persons, through one of whom William R.
Hubert had secured his title. But every deed on record which purported
to pass any fraction of the Petersen property was witnessed by H.
Huffman Browne! And Browne was the attesting witness to the deed under
which Hubert purported to hold. Thus the chain of title, at the end of
which Levitan found himself, ran back to Mary Petersen, with H. Huffman
Browne peering behind the arras of every signature.

MARY PETERSEN CLARK BROWNE,
to to attesting witness.
O'ROURKE KEILLY
|
|
| KEILLY BROWNE,
| to attesting witness.
| O'ROURKE
| |
|____________________|

O'ROURKE BROWNE,
to attesting witness.
WILLIAM P. COLLITON

WILLIAM P. COLLITON
to BROWNE,
JOHN GARRETSON attesting witness.

JOHN GARRETSON
to BROWNE,
HERMAN BOLTE attesting witness.

HERMAN BOLTE
to BROWNE,
BENJ. FREEMAN attesting witness.

BENJ. FREEMAN
to BROWNE,
WILLIAM R. HUBERT attesting witness.

The Assistant District Attorney rubbed his forehead and wondered who in
thunder all these people were. Who, for example, to begin at the
beginning, was Charles A. Clark, and why should he be deeding away Ebbe
Petersen's property? And who were Keilly and O'Rourke, and all the
rest--Colliton, Garretson, Bolte and Freeman? And who, for that matter,
was Hubert?

A score of detectives were sent out to hunt up these elusive persons,
but, although the directories of twenty years were searched, no Charles
A. Clark, John J. Keilly or I. F. X. O'Rourke could be disc