In a short while supper was served and the two men passed to the dining hall. Here, while the girls were near, they spoke of matters in general. The meal finished, John Watkins invited his visitor up to his den on the second floor.
As said before, the house was on a corner, and by the lighting up of a room above, Adam Adams located the den, just behind the main front corner room, and close to a tree, which grew along the side street. Looking around, the detective made certain that nobody was observing him, and then began to climb the tree with the agility of a schoolboy. One heavy branch ran out close to the building, and standing on this brought him to within three feet of the window, which was screened and open from the bottom to admit the air. The curtain was down to within three inches of the window sill, thus affording the detective a chance to peep into the apartment without running much risk of being discovered.
"Then you say the mortgages have not been paid?" came from John Watkins.
"No, blast the luck!" growled Matlock Styles. "I didn't think he wanted the cash so I let them run on."
"Have you any idea how the estate is to be divided?"
"I understand the girl gets half. The wife's half will go to her two sons now."
"That is lucky for them. I reckon Dick Ostrello can use all the money he can lay hands on. He's a wild one, if ever there was one."
"Don't Tom spend his money?"
"Not lately. I understand he is saving up to marry some girl in New
York."
"Humph."