words on
a scrap of common paper, apparently torn from some book--the inspiration
of an instant, perhaps, a sudden hope born of desperation. He fairly had
to dig the words out, letter by letter, copying them on an old envelope
until he had the message complete: "_Please notify police to search
Seminole quick_."

West read this over, word by word, again and again. What did it mean? Did
it mean anything? Had it any possible connection with the case in which
he was interested? There was no signature, nothing to guide him; yet in
some way the plea sounded real, was a cry of distress, an appeal for
help. It could be given no other meaning, yet how long had it been lying
there in the alley? Not any great length of time surely, for the polished
silver was far too conspicuous to escape notice. It must have been
dropped during the night, within a very short time of its discovery. But
what did the words signify? "_Notify police_" was clear enough, but
"_search Seminole_" meant absolutely nothing. What was "Seminole"--an
apartment house? A hotel? A saloon? Perhaps the police would know;
evidently the writer so believed, or she would never have used the name
with such confidence. A familiar name to her, she assumed that the police
would have no difficulty in instantly locating the place meant. The haste
with which the message had apparently been written, its short, sharp
words, bespoke urgent need, the consciousness of imminent peril. Plainly
the writer had used the only means at hand in a hurried desperate effort
to gain assistance.

"The police." The request had been for the police; then why not appeal to
the police? Why not take the note now directly to headquarters, and let
them help solve its mystery? At first West hesitated, yet a moment's
thought convinced him this would be the logical course to pursue. He
could accomplish nothing alone, unguided. His appealing to the police
need not necessarily involve any disclosure relative to the Coolidge
matter. He had found this note accidentally in an alley in the northwest
section of the city; his being there need require no special explanation;
he did not understand its meaning, but it was quite evidently a police
matter, and consequently he placed it in their hands. That all sounded
natural enough. Besides at this hour of the night there was no other
place to which he could go for information.

He looked at Sexton, who was sleeping soundly, and decided not to awaken
the man. He