he
spot with it. And now I must be going. If I have your permission,
Miss Atwood, I would like to drop in again sometime to let you know
about any further discoveries I may make on this case."

"Thank you," she returned. "I shall be interested."

As he turned to say good-bye at the door, she added, apologetically,
"I am sorry I had no information to give you."

"Oh, that's all right," Morgan assured her, "I appreciate your
courtesy in letting me have this little chat with you." But as he
drew the door to after him, Morgan smiled and said to himself, "Poor
little girl; you don't realize what a lot of information you have
given me."

CHAPTER V

PECULIAR FACTS

When Morgan reached the second floor on his way down, he paused a
moment before Marsh's door. So far as he had gone in this case,
Morgan was confronted with two factors; the connection of this man
with the case, and the bearing which Miss Atwood and her father
might have upon it. Without doubt, some singular conditions
surrounded the Atwoods, but his knowledge of these was still too
vague to give him even a basis for reasoning. On the other hand, the
questionable circumstances surrounding the connection of this man
Marsh with the case, were very definite, indeed, and though Morgan
tried to avoid hasty conclusions, he could not keep back his growing
suspicions of Marsh. As he hesitated before Marsh's door, Morgan
thought that it moved slightly. Stepping closer and pushing the door
gently with an outstretched hand, he found it tightly closed. Yet,
he had a feeling that the door had been softly closed after he had
stopped on the landing. That decided Morgan. The time was not
opportune for an interview with this man. He wanted to obtain some
additional facts before taking the step he was now convinced would
have to be taken, and so went on down the stairs to carry his
investigations further.

Leaving the house, Morgan turned the corner of Lawrence Avenue and
entered the alleyway in the rear of the Hillcrest apartments.

Practically all Chicago apartment houses have an outside rear
stairway for the use of tradespeople. Usually, this stairway is open
so that anything which takes place can be observed from all nearby
houses. In this instance the stairway was enclosed, with a door
leading to the back porch of each apartment. A person could pass
from the alley up to the third floor without being noticed, even by
tenants in the building itself.

Morgan i