Mr. Barnes took up the checks again, examined them most carefully with the lens, and once more laid them down. He strummed on his desk a moment and then said suddenly:
"Mr. West, suppose that I not only arrest the guilty man, but recover the forty thousand dollars?"
"You don't mean to say——" began Mr. West, rather astonished.
"I said 'suppose,'" interrupted Mr. Barnes.
"Why, in that case," said Mr. West, "I would gladly give a thousand more."
"The terms suit me," said the detective. "I'll do my best. Leave these checks with me, and I'll report to you as promptly as possible. One moment," as Mr. West was about to depart; "I will make a memorandum of something you must do yourself." He wrote a few lines on a sheet of paper and handed it to Mr. West, saying, "Let me have those to-day, if possible."
One week later Mr. West received the following note:
"Stephen West, Esq.:—
"Dear Sir—I have completed my investigation of your case. Please call at my office at four o'clock. If convenient, you may as well bring with you a check for fifteen hundred dollars, made payable to
John Barnes."