“If there was such an organization in the city you would undoubtedly be aware of it?”
“Certainly I would.”
Klein smiled. “Mr. Lydecker has been imposed upon by a pair of clever crooks; one of them an actor, whom you have probably seen in the Hudson Stock Company; the other passing himself off as a detective. Last week they got away with Miss Lydecker’s brooch, and to-night they probably figured upon a greater haul.”
“How do you happen to know so much concerning them?” demanded the chief, plainly impressed, yet at the same time perplexed.
“I have been interested in the case for the past month,” Klein answered frankly.
“Are you a detective?”
“I am an actor, who for a certain reason found it necessary to play the rôle of a detective,” announced Klein.
“And that reason?” insisted the chief.
“The best reason in the world—for self-defense!”
“It is rather unusual for a man in your position to assume such a task without——”