The Bradys arose.
“Wait a moment,” said the chief, “I want you to hear what this visitor has to say.”
“But—perhaps he will not speak if we are here,” said Old King Brady.
“We will fix that,” said the chief, drawing the wing of a folding screen across a corner of the room. “Get behind this and listen.”
The detectives obeyed.
In a few moments the door again opened and the clerk showed Mr. Blood into the room.
Napoleon Blood, uncle of the missing heiress, was a sharp-eyed, hatchet-faced man of not altogether prepossessing appearance.
He was dressed in dark clothes and had an oily, suave manner.
He bowed obsequiously as he accepted the chair proffered him by the chief.
“Well, Mr. Blood, what can I do for you?” asked the chief.