“Really?” remarked the girl, only slightly interested. It was a practice of hers never to frown or show emotion, lest she encourage wrinkles.
They passed on in to the director’s office, and Linda introduced the two men and told her story. When she had finished, Mr. Von Goss looked extremely worried, crestfallen, even defeated. For now Linda’s identity was established beyond a doubt.
“How then do you account for this license?” he asked, extending the one with the forged signature to Linda.
“Sprague’s doing, of course!” cried Dot, before Linda had a chance to answer. “He was in league with that girl. We just heard that they were married.”
“But how could he manage these licenses?” demanded Von Goss.
“He got hold of a blank somehow, and forged the name. Then when he had the chance to get hold of the real Miss Carlton’s, of course he exchanged them.”
The Chief of Police was listening to Dot’s logic with admiration.
“You’re a bright girl,” he said. “And you’ve figured it out just about right.” He turned to Linda. “You should never have let your own licenses get out of your hands.”
“I had no idea Mr. Sprague was dishonest,” she said. “But the worst part of it is, that now I have to fly with a false license.”
“We’ll get yours back when we catch that couple!” promised Von Goss. “Because we’ve got to catch them. Why, I paid her thirty thousand dollars for her part in the picture—and if my picture is not shown, I’ll lose thousands more....”