“Many things can happen to a check. If you think it’s a live clew, Cardona, inquiry is the only method.
“What about Sutton’s druggist — or his physician?”
“I asked his son about the physician,” declared Cardona. “He said the old man was often fussy about his health. Tried first one doctor; then another. Never satisfied.
“It was his practice to pay cash for everything; he issued checks only when he was short of ready change.
“Perhaps you have treated Mr. Sutton, doctor,” said Biscayne, turning to Fredericks, with a smile.
“I don’t recall him as a patient,” said Fredericks seriously. “From what Detective Cardona has said, I don’t regret the fact. Changeable patients are always a bane to a physician.”
Cardona laid the check book aside. He began to feel that he had made a wide mistake; that he was placing himself open for ridicule. Yet he was still convinced that the clew was there.
The diary had been dog-eared at the proper page. So had the stub, with the notation, “Med.” Both clews had come from The Shadow. Cardona felt that one must be as significant as the other.
He noted that the expression of interest was fading from Commissioner Weston’s eyes. Anxious to regain confidence, the detective turned to his next statement.
“About Louis Glenn,” he said, “I have found a clew there. I have had the evidence all along; but both you and I passed it up, professor. Look at these cigarette boxes.”