Merritt made the necessary introductions, and Doctor Varian looked at Potter.
“The strangest case you’ve ever had,” he informed him, “and the most important. How do you propose to handle it?”
“Like I do all the others, by using my head.”
“Yes, I know, but I mean what help do you expect to have?”
“Dunno’s I’ll need any yet. Haven’t got the principal facts. Dead man’s your brother, ain’t he?”
“Yes.”
“Shot dead and no weapon around. Criminal unknown. Now, about this young lady,—the daughter. Where is she?”
“I don’t know,—but I hope you can find her.”
And then Doctor Varian told, in his straightforward way, of his search for the girl.
“Mighty curious,” vouchsafed the sheriff, with an air of one stating a new idea. “The girl and her father on good terms?”