“She did not!” I returned; “she put up a fearful fight, tore up a lot of papers from a desk drawer, and lit into the policemen like a tiger cat! She tried to bite Hudson, and yet, he was the one who kind-heartedly let her telephone to her mother.”
“What!” cried Rivers, “he let her do that!”
“I did it myself, really,” I said; and I told how Sadie had begged for the privilege.
“There you are!” Rivers said, positively. “That telephone message was not to her mother!”
“But I called her up,” I explained, “and she said she was Mrs. Kent.”
“That may be,” and Rivers shook his head; “but, don’t you see, that was a code call,—a warning. The person who received it, mother or grandmother, caught on to the state of things and set machinery in motion that resulted in the kidnaping of Miss Raynor.”
“What for?” I asked, blankly.
“Revenge, probably, but there may be other villainies afoot. Am I right, Mr. Wise?”
“Yes, and mighty quick-witted. Then the next step is to go to the ‘mother’s’ house.”
“Yes, if we can trace it. It may be a call within a call; I mean, the number Mr. Brice got may be merely a go-between—a link——”