ar_ kept him.

"It may be a dream," he said, smiling, "but here is the way I stack it
up. The night after he quarrelled with John, Frederick Cavendish
called in Enright and made a will, presumably, cutting John off with
practically nothing.

"Immediately after Frederick's departure, Enright calls Carbon's Cafe
and talks to John Cavendish, who had been dining there with Celeste La
Rue.

"It is reasonable to suppose that he told him of the will. Less than
five hours afterward Frederick Cavendish is found dead in his
apartments. Again it is reasonable to suppose that he was croaked by
John Cavendish, who wanted to destroy the will so that he could claim
the estate.

"These Broadway boys need money when they travel with chorines.
Anyhow, the dead man is buried, and John starts spending money like
water. One month later he receives a letter--Josette patched the
pieces together--asking him to call at Enright's office.

"What happened there is probably this: Young Cavendish was informed of
the existence of the will, and it was offered to him at a price which
he couldn't afford to pay--just then.

"Perhaps he was frightened into signing a promise to pay as soon as he
came into the estate--tricked by Enright. Enright, as soon as he heard
no will had been found in Frederick's effects, may have figured that
perhaps John killed him, or even if he did not, that, nevertheless, he
could use circumstances to extract money from the youngster, who, even
if innocent, would fear the trial and notoriety that would follow if
Enright publicly disclosed the existence of that will.

"John Cavendish may be innocent, or he may be guilty, but one thing is
certain--he's being badgered to death by two people, from what little
we know. One of them is the La Rue woman; the other is Enright.

"Now I wonder--Mr. Farriss, doesn't it occur to you that they may be
working together like the woman and the man in the Skittles case last
year? You remember then they got a youngster in their power and nearly
trimmed him down to his eye-teeth!"

Farriss sat reflecting deeply, chewing the stem of his dead pipe.

"There's something going on--that's as plain as a red banner-head.
You've got a peach of a start, so far, and done good pussyfooting--you,
too, Stella--but there's one thing that conflicts with your
hypothesis----"

The two leaned forward.

"Valois's statement that he was almost positive that the dead man was
not Cavendish," the city