"It's a funny old place, isn't it!" interrupted Margaret. "Sarah sometimes wheels me past it. The building looks awfully ramshackly. But what about it? Surely it can't have anything to do with our affair!"
"Just you douse your sparker and save gasoline!" chuckled Alexander. "Shows how much you know about things! You needed a man on this job! As I was going to say, I know Tim Garrity pretty well—he has charge of the horses. We're pretty good pals, and he gives me a whole lot of interesting dope, off and on. Last summer he told me something that stuck in my crop, but I didn't think of it again till the other day. Then I thought I'd go and nail it for certain, before I told you kids, and I got him to reel it off again yesterday. It's the dope, all right! I saw it myself!"
"For gracious sake, Alexander, don't keep us in suspense another minute!" implored Corinne. "Tell us quick!"
"All right! Now I'm going to shoot! You remember telling me about the theater that old house was turned into? Well, Tim once told me that the stable was built right over where an old theater had stood,—on the very foundations,—and in the back, where the stalls are, you could see a part of the old stage, the paintings on the beams, and frescoes—he called 'em! He was quite proud of it!"
The listening four were now sitting up straight and tense. He went on:
"I didn't pay much 'tention to it at the time. Didn't interest me! Rather be talking about baseball! But the other day, after all you told me, I fell for it again. Yesterday I went round and made him tell me all over again and show it to me, too. I guess we've hit the trail, kids! It was there, all right! Funny old gilt do-dabs, and you could just make out the shape of the stage, curved, the way they have 'em in the theaters now."
He stopped, and every one drew a long breath.
"Alexander, you are certainly a trump!" sighed Corinne. "This is the best discovery yet. But I'm surprised that the site of the house should be on Varick Street. Most books said it faced on Charlton."
And Bess added her say: