“I’ll go!” cried Zizi; “where? Headquarters?” and she was already flinging on her coat.
“Let her go,” said Wise, giving the girl a quick, appreciative glance. “She’ll beat any other messenger, and she’ll find it.”
We heard Zizi’s imperative little voice demanding a cab from the telephone, and a bit later heard the street door close behind her.
“You see,” and Wise explained it to us, “Zizi noticed,—and then I did,—these letters. At first glance they seem to be perfectly regular, but noted closely there are some, here and there, that are a microscopic fraction of space nearer or farther away from others. And that shows what kind of a cipher it is. We may be mistaken about the carriage check, but I truly believe when we get it we can read the message this paper carries. We certainly can’t without it.”
This was so true that we laid the paper aside until the return of our winged Mercury.
She came soon, and waved triumphantly the perforated card she had gone in quest of.
“Here you are!” she cried; “let me try it as a reward for getting it.”
“All right, go to it,” said Wise, and flinging off her cape, Zizi bent over the puzzle.
“It’s it! It’s it!” she cried, exultantly. “See, oh, Wise One!”
The detective took the paper and the card.