"Bring her into town to-morrow morning. There’s a train at nine-thirty you can take. Get a taxi at the depot and come right up to the office. You’ll have to tell her in what capacity you’re serving the family. That’ll be easy—you were engaged for the robbery. Don’t let her think you have any interest in the kidnaping, and on no account let her guess we suspect her. Say you’ve had a message from me, that some new facts have come in and I want to ask her a few questions—see if the information tallies with what she saw. Keep her quiet and calm. Got that straight? All right—so long." CHAPTER XX—MOLLY’S STORY The next morning, in the hall, right after breakfast I told her what I had to tell—I mean who I was. It gave her a start—held her listening with her eyes hard on mine—then when I explained it was for inside work on the robbery she eased up, got cool and nodded her head at me, politely agreeing. She understood perfectly and would go wherever she was wanted; she was glad to do anything that would be of assistance; no one was more anxious than she to help the family in their distress, and so forth and so on. On the way in she was quiet, but I don’t think as peaceful as she acted. She asked me some questions about my work. I answered brisk and bright and she said it must be a very interesting profession. I’ve seen nervy people in my time but no woman that beat her for cool sand, and the way I’m built I can’t help but respect courage no matter what the person’s like who has it. Before we reached town I was full of admiration for that girl who, as far as I could judge, was a crook from the ground up. When we reached the office I was called into an inner room where the Chief and Mr. George were waiting. I gave them my paper with the ’phone message on it, and answered the few questions they had to ask. I learned then that they’d got hold of more evidence against her. O’Malley had snooped round the Gayle Street locality and heard that on Friday morning about half-past eleven a taxi, containing a child resembling Bébita, had been seen opposite a book bindery on the corner of the block. I didn’t hear any particulars but I saw by the Chief’s manner, quiet and sort of absorbed, and by Mr. George, like a blue-ribbon pup straining at the leash, that they had Esther Maitland dead to rights and the end was in sight.