"Actually, no; potentially, yes."

"How did you learn anything was wrong? The telephone wire has been cut."

"She came along in a carriage. Stopped just as I was about to enter the governor's bungalow. Said she'd seen men fighting here—shadows on the curtain. And I let her get away!"

"In a white pith helmet?" asked Mathison, with the first sign of eagerness he had shown.

"Yes. Been hunting all over town for her. You saw her, then?"

"Just as I left the trolley."

"Get a good look?"

"No. Light clothes and pith helmet gave me the impression that she might be young."

"Young," mused the Intelligence man, ironically. "Well, yes; young and beautiful and the innocent expression of a child, with the heart of a hell-cat. I pick up lots of odds and ends in my business, unofficial stuff. This female once tried to wreck Hallowell; and she never forgave him for having a spine."

"She?"