“Sure, that’s what I mean,” replied Patsy. “It’s the only big house on a hill around here that I know anything about. Gee! Look at that bunch going up the road. There’s nearly a hundred of them.”
“And women among them,” remarked Captain Brown.
“Sure! That’s what’s going to make it so hard on the other side. The women have helped to save the money that’s gone into that phony real-estate, and they’re going to get back their coin or bust somebody. You can bet your bottom dollar on that!”
“Who is at the back of all this swindle?” asked Captain Brown. “Do you know, Carter?”
“I know only what is apparent to everybody,” was the detective’s answer. “The property is on the Milmarsh estate, and there is a Howard Milmarsh living on it at present. The advertisements of Paradise City say that the long-lost heir is back to his own, and that he means to give people of limited means an opportunity to find homes in the country. You’ve seen the booklets, haven’t you, captain?”
“Yes, but I thought you might know something more than they made public. Advertisements are splendid things in their way, and as a rule they are truthful. But exaggeration will creep into them occasionally, and often there are details which the writer of the advertisement forgot to put in.”
“That’s what Bonesy Billings says,” remarked Patsy. “He told me that coming up on the train.”
“Oh, you came up from New York with this crowd, then?” asked Nick.
“Yes—those that came from New York. Some of ’em live at places along the railroad. There’s a bunch from Yonkers, for instance, and others from the Bronx. But they are all here.”
“How was it worked up?” asked Chick, smiling, for he knew Patsy had the whole matter in his head.