“I wanted to ask you about that kidnapping,” he explained. “You see, I wasn’t about when they found Mito, and it wasn’t until later that I heard of it and the attempt on Winifred. What do you suppose, Mr. Kennedy, was the reason? Who could have wanted to carry her off?”
Kennedy shrugged. “So far I haven’t been able to give a final explanation,” he remarked, keenly.
“Then the kidnappers got away clean?” asked Shelby.
“It was very clever,” temporized Kennedy, “but I would hardly say that there is no clue.”
Shelby eyed Craig keenly, as though he would have liked to read his mind. But Kennedy’s face did not betray whether it was much or little that he knew.
“Well,” added Shelby, “all I’ve got to say is that some one is going to get into trouble if anything happens to that girl.”
I was listening attentively. Was this a bluff, or not? From the expression on Hastings’s face one would have said that he was convinced it must have been Shelby himself who kidnapped her. I wondered whether it was wholly interest in Winifred that prompted Shelby’s visit and inquiry.
“At any rate,” he went on, “you’ll all be watching now against a repetition of such a thing, won’t you? I don’t need to remind you, Kennedy, of your promise when I talked to you before?”
Craig nodded. “I’ll give you a square deal, Mr. Maddox,” returned Craig. “Of course I can’t work for two people at once. But I shall do nothing for any client that I am not convinced is perfectly right. You need not fear for Miss Walcott as long as I can protect her.”
Maddox seemed to be relieved, although he had found nothing that pointed to the origin of the attack. Or was it because of that?