"

"Say, Mister Townsend, out in my blessed locality, where men are men,
and the women are glad of it, they accuse me of asking eight or ten
questions before the first one is answered. I want to take you out
there to show 'em I am an amateur. For a year or more I have been
associated with an upstanding gent who gave out his name as Sam
Welborn. In all my public career I've never met a person more honest
in business or more fearless with thugs and undesirables. Ten devils
couldn't stop him if he thought he was right and even a midget could,
and did, shame him out of some of his atrocious efforts. When he
reached a certain goal in his persistent activities he disclosed to us
four at the home where he headquartered that he was going back to his
old home town to find out just where he stood--criminal or citizen. He
planned to go back there in disguise; to listen in, to read old
newspaper files, and to learn the truth.

"And then I horned in. This man Welborn had saved my life; he got me
planted where I wanted to be; I owed him everything. I didn't ask--I
just told him--that I would go to his town and, under the pretext of
rehearsing a midget show, I would get the needed dope. He fell right
in with my proposal. He disclosed that his name was Shirley Wells,
that his home town was Bransford, and here I am."

Townsend went to the door of the office. "I will be busy for the next
hour," he said to the secretary as he closed the door.

"Just where, and how soon, can I contact this Shirley Wells?" Townsend
asked as he seated himself alongside of Davy. "This is really the only
time I've needed him since he left. Where is he? I'll send him all the
funds needed to get him home."

"He's in Denver, just temporarily. I do not have his address, but he
will be in this Chicago vicinity by the end of this week. Maybe he
will be disguised, but I hope not. He will phone me at the Grand Union
to know how he stands in his home town. That's what I've come here to
find out. Is he under indictment? Will he have to serve time? How much
money is needed to clean his slate? Will a mob form if he shows up on
your city streets? What was it he did, anyhow?"

Fred Townsend laughed quietly. "We are both so anxious to get
information that our cross-questioning is confusing. However, when you
described your man as honest, persistent, and fearless in dealing with
crooks and thugs, I would have known that you were talking about
Shirley Wells, even if you