Mr. Smithers is still at large in London, a “respectable jeweler” in Bond street. Artie Fletcher had something to say regarding the gentleman in several letters written to Guy, and as one of those letters is of particular interest at this point, we reproduce it here:
“Dear Guy—When I got your letter telling of the arrest of those two smugglers, I just couldn’t rest until I’d sprung it on Smithers. I saw things differently and a lot of explanations flashed before me like a bobby’s light in a fog. Smithers had left the hotel, but I went to his store and presented myself to him. He pretended not to know me, but I grinned in his face and said:
“‘Oh, come, now, Mr. Tennis Racket Wireless Shoes, you know me very well. Have you forgot the time you fixed it up with one Gunseyt of the funny voice, him to hold up the young American, Guy Burton, in the fog, so you could jump in sudden with a pistol and save him from being robbed?’
“He turned as pale as a ghost, and I knew I’d hit him where it hurt. But I didn’t stop there. I gave him another before he could recover.
“‘Gunseyt and Pickett have both been arrested in America,’ I said.
“You ought to have seen him. I thought he was going to collapse. Then he pulled himself together and flew into a rage and after me. I knew what was best for Artie and cut sticks. He didn’t catch me.
“What do you think happened next day? I was discharged at the hotel. I know Smithers did it, although no explanation was given to me.
“But it was the best thing for me that ever happened, and I hope it will prove the worst for Smithers. I went to a detective agency and told the boss my story. He was interested right away. I found they’d been watching Smithers for somebody over on your side, maybe the government. I told them I wanted to be a detective, hardly expecting it would do me any good; but, Guy, the boss, after a secret confab with somebody else, offered me a job and told me if I made good on this smuggling case, he’d keep me.
“I thought, from the way the chief talked, he was going to make me one of his star ‘sick-’em dogs’, but he didn’t. He gave me only a position as clerk, with a salary four shillings less than I got at the hotel. But I didn’t care for salary, just so I had enough to live on. It was just the opportunity for me. And I haven’t forgotten, Guy, that I owe a whole lot of it to you.
“They really needed a boy in the office and to run errands, but I soon found out that the reason I got the job was because of what I knew about Smithers. And I’m having some real detective work to do. They’re after Smithers hard, but they haven’t been able to get the goods on him. I hope before long I’ll land him. If I do, you may be sure I’ll let you know right away.”