"No matter now."
"There can be nothing against him," declared the girl, "he is the soul of honor."
"I hope so," answered the detective dryly, "but he is also in prison, and unless we do something he is apt to stay there."
"What can we do?" murmured Alice, twining her fingers piteously.
"We must get at the truth, we must find this woman who came to see you. The quickest way to do that is through Kittredge himself. He knows all about her, if we can make him speak. So far he has refused to say a word, but there is one person who ought to unseal his lips—that is the girl he loves."
"Oh, yes," exclaimed Alice, her face lighting with new hope, "I think I could, I am sure I could, only—will they let me see him?"
"That is the point. It is against the prison rule for a person au secret to see anyone except his lawyer, but I know the director of the Santé and I think——"
"You mean the director of the depot?"
"No, for M. Kittredge was transferred from the depot this morning. You know the depot is only a temporary receiving station, but the Santé is one of the regular French prisons. It's there they send men charged with murder."
Alice shivered at the word. "Yes," she murmured, "and—what were you saying?"