Geraldine Bonner

“ Cokesbury'd had the house upside down looking for it."
"Um," said Mr. Whitney again. "I rather fancy, Miss Morganthau, you've done us a double service; in hunting for a voice, you've stumbled on a key."
Young Mr. Whitney laughed.
"It's probably the key of his front door."
"Perhaps," said his father, and looked down on the carpet as if he was thinking.
Then Babbitts spoke up:
"Don't criminals, no matter how careful they are, often overlook some small clew that maybe is the very thing that gives them away?"
"Often," said Mr. Whitney. "In most crimes there's a curious lack of attention to detail. ”

“ Something Cokesbury left in the motor the last time he was down. I'm to hand it over to his servant at Jersey City."
"Is it love letters that he don't want to leave behind?"
"No, I guess he's careful of them. Here it is," he drew out of his breast pocket an envelope with Cokesbury's name and address written on it and held it out to me. "That ain't no love letter."
I pinched it.
"It's a key. It may open the desk where the love letters are kept." ”

“ I'm just a passenger traveling down on the train. Awful glad I could be of any service. Good-bye."
I waited a minute till I got my heart quieted down, then took a call for Babbitts' paper. Luck was with me all round that night, for he was there. I couldn't tell him everything—I was afraid—but I told him enough to show him I'd landed Cokesbury and he answered to come across to town and he'd meet me at the Ferry. ”