“‘Your brother?’ he cried. ‘What is your name?’
“‘Natalie Green.’
“‘Natalie!’
“It was the last name pronounced by the murdered traveller; and the detective was startled at finding its possessor so soon.
“‘Where do you live?’ he asked.
“‘In a house two blocks down this street. Oh! sir, do not think me one of the sinning. I am not. He drew me from home, and I had not the hardihood to return. I could not face father, though I have not fallen, and brother George, the dead, has been hunting me ever since.’
“‘Natalie, this is no place for conversation,’ said the detective. ‘In your home you must tell me the whole story. You know what I am, girl?’
“‘Yes, a detective,’ she replied. ‘They don’t like such as you in these parts.’
“‘I reckon not,’ he said, with a smile, and together they walked down the street.
“What followed I need not detail here; the denouement of my story will tell you.