“Afraid to trust me?”
“What I have to say is meant for Quick’s especial ear,” said Bull, “and as I can’t see him I suppose I had better sneak.”
Blair moved toward the door. Jim called him back.
“Stop here a moment,” said the bartender, “and see that no one runs off with the place.”
Elford then went out by a rear door.
He was absent only a few moments.
When he returned he said: “You’ll find Mike in the room above the store.”
“Now, Freshy,” sneered Bull, “you see I knew what I was talking about.”
Blair found the dive-keeper in the room indicated by Elford. Quick seemed in the best possible humor, and a smile wreathed his dissipated-looking features. He had been reading an account of the finding of Murphy’s body in a morning paper.
No mention was made of the fact that the “fence” was alive when found. Mike now felt sure that his victim was found dead. The case would, he believed, go down in the annals of New York history as a mystery. But no. The man who now called to see him knew who the murderer was.