"I didn't say when," she murmured miserably. "And I couldn't tell you it was at three o'clock, or it would all have come out! And it is nobody's business, anyhow. I wish I had never answered that advertisement of yours!"
Fellows stirred slightly and his eye met mine. I caught his hint not to frighten the timid Minnie if I wanted to get any information from her.
"Did you tell Miss Benbow that you had seen her brother leave the house at three?" I asked, to fill time.
"Not then," she said meekly. "I didn't think about it. I told her the other day."
"Well, now you know the whole story, and I guess Min and I will go," said Royce,--and this time I did not try to prevent his departure. "Min wanted me to come, because that young man was hanging around to make her tell about things, and she didn't know what she had ought to tell and what not. But there ain't nothing we need to be afraid of coming out, only Min hates to be in the papers."
"Good day," I said. "And thank you for coming." As the door closed behind them, I turned to Fellows.
"Follow them. Don't lose sight of him. I don't feel sure yet that he has told the truth. We may need him."
"All right," said Fellows. "I've been having her watched for weeks to find out who her young man was. I just worked it out yesterday, and got them here five minutes before you came in."
"Well, make sure that we can locate him if necessary," I said. This was not the time to discuss his method of handling things.
The door had hardly swung shut behind him when it opened again and Barney stumped in,--an anxious-looking Barney.