"Clever," I ejaculated. "I suppose that occurred to him as soon as he read about the fire. I have to hand it to him for being a deducer."
Garrick smiled.
"There's one thing, though, he does know," he added, "and that is the gossip of the underworld right here in New York."
"I should hope so," I replied. "That was his business to know. Why, has he found out anything really new?"
"Why—er—yes. Dillon tells me that it now appears that Forbes had been intimate with that Rena Taylor."
"Yes?" I repeated, not surprised.
"At least that's what Herman has told him."
"Well," I exclaimed in disgust, "Forbes is a fine one to run around with stool-pigeons and women of the Tenderloin, in addition to his other accomplishments, and then expect to associate with a girl like Violet Winslow."
"It is scandalous," he agreed. "Why, according to Dillon and Herman, she must have been getting a good deal of evidence through her intimacy with Forbes. They probably gambled together, drank together, and—-"
"Do you suppose Forbes ever found out that she was really using him?"