“When a man once declines employment with me,” said Alexander Blair to Kent, “I never give him a second chance. That rule I am going to break. I need your assistance.”
“Honored, indeed!” murmured Kent.
“Will you accept the commission?”
“Not if it is like your former offer.”
“It is not. It is bona fide. Some one has been tampering with my son’s grave.”
“You mean the grave at Hedgerow House?”
“Yes. Gansett Jim reports that there are signs of recent digging. It looks as if ghouls had been at work there, with the idea of getting the body and holding it for ransom. They would have had a fine surprise if they had got the coffin out!”
“Because they’d have found no body in it, you mean?”
“Certainly. But suppose they discovered that there were no remains, nothing but a punctured sand-bag. Do you see the potentialities of blackmail?”
“No.”