"The Hathaway case?"
"You can guess anything, Nan, if you guess long enough."
Nan rose and put the revolver in her pocket. Then she held out her hand frankly to Sarah Judd.
"If you've beaten me in this affair," she said, with no apparent resentment, "you're clever enough to become famous some day. I'm going to take your advice about the letter and if that climax you're predicting arrives on schedule time I'll not be sorry to quit this dreary, dragging case and pick up a more interesting one."
The tone was friendly and frank. Sarah stretched out her hand to meet that of Nan and in a flash a handcuff snapped over her wrist. With a cry she drew back, but a dextrous twist of her opponent's free hand prisoned her other wrist and she at once realized that she was fairly caught.
"Fine!" she cried admiringly, as she looked at her bonds, "What next,
Nan?"
But Nan was too busy to talk. She deftly searched the girl's pocket and found the notebook. The shorthand writing caught her eye at once but the characters were unknown to her.
"Cipher, eh?" she muttered.
"A little code of my own invention," said Sarah. "Sometimes I can't make it out myself."
Nan restored the book and examined Sarah Judd's purse.