Arthur B. Reeve

“ Kennedy closed the cover of the little case and slipped the thing into his pocket, still pondering.
“It grows more incredible, too,” pursued Burke, looking at us frankly. “And then, to top it all off, when I do get back to the city I happen to run across you fellows hot on the trail of the death of Valcour herself—whatever she may be or have to do with the case. There’s only one thing Sinclair will not talk about freely and that is women—and this precious crew of Mexican friends of his. ”

“ I commented.
“Yes,” agreed Burke. “The Colonel is a big man all right. You see this was one of his hobbies. He has spent thousands of dollars of his own money on it. There were two sets of plans made—one which he took to Washington and one which he kept him self out on his estate on Long Island. His own plans out there are those that have been stolen, not the plans that he gave to the Government.”
“The Government had accepted them, then?” queried Craig. ”

“ Burke had fallen into a study.
“I suspected some of those people out there at Seaville,” he resumed slowly. “I found out that when they are in the city they usually drop in at that Mexican cabaret down the street.”
“We have just come from it,” interjected Kennedy.
“There seemed to be hardly any of them left out at Seaville,” went on Burke. “If any of them has pulled off anything, they have all come to New York for cover. My people at Washington hurried me up to Westport first, and after I looked over the ground I saw nothing to do but come back to New York to watch these Mexicans. ”