"We have a tough customer this time," declared Marsh. "Ordinary methods won't go. Watch her while I get some water."
Marsh went to the bathroom for a towel and some cold water. In the meantime Morgan turned sharply to Tierney.
"From now on, while we work on this case, your job is to stand outside of every door I enter."
Tierney grinned. To some men it might have seemed that they were being thrust into the background. To Tierney, however, the work immediately presented possibilities that stirred his fighting Irish blood. Without a word he went out into the public hall and closed the door behind him.
Marsh returned, and began to bathe the girl's forehead and the bruise with the cold water. While he worked over her, the photographer approached Morgan and held out an envelope.
"After your friend here picked the girl up," he explained, "I noticed this lying near her."
Morgan took the envelope. After a hasty glance he extended it to Marsh. "A letter to this girl with a St. Louis postmark!" he gasped.
"Good!" exclaimed Marsh, without stopping his work to revive the girl. "Just what I have been watching for. Open it."
Morgan understood. Turning to the photographer, he handed back the envelope. "Slip into the kitchen, steam this open and make a quick copy." Then, noticing the case on the floor beside the man, he added, "Finished your work upstairs?"
The man nodded.