“‘Good! I accept the invitation implied in your words; and Tobey—is he included?’
“‘Certainly,’ answered Dixon, with a faint smile; and then the conversation was interrupted by the whistle of the engine.
“‘We’re running into Dayton,’ said the messenger, taking up his book. ‘I put off a parcel here that is not entered on the books,’ and he glanced from the detective to the corpse.
“The coroner’s inquest elicited no new facts concerning the dead passenger. The usual verdict that ‘the deceased had come to his death at the hands of some person or persons unknown to the jury’ appeared in the morning papers. During the day many people viewed the corpse in the coroner’s office, but it was not recognised.
“Dixon, the detective, kept about the office the entire day. He scrutinised the face of each viewer of the corpse, and assisted to put the dead into the coffin after office hours. Many people wondered who that strange and commonplace man in the office was, never dreaming that he one was one of the keenest detectives in the United States.
“He left the office at eleven o’clock and passed under the gaslight towards the Merchants’ Hotel. This resort was in a distant part of the city, and to gain it the detective would be obliged to traverse a portion of the metropolis infested with thieves, gamblers, debauchees, and wicked people generally. He had traversed it before, unarmed, and did not fear its denizens.
“He set forth alone, and had gained the nearest and best portion of the infested district, when a hand was laid on his arm. He stopped and beheld a young girl looking up into his face.
“‘Well, miss?’ he said, in a tone that reassured the person, for she came nearer.
“‘I saw you in the coroner’s office; but I was afraid to come in,’ she said. ‘I looked in from the curb, and ran off when I thought you were looking at me. Sir, I would like to see him before they give him an unknown grave. He was my brother.’
“Dixon started and turned full upon the pale, sorrowful girl.