He stood before us; stooped, but with the strength of a gorilla seeming to lie hidden in his squat frame, masked by the dapperness of his clothes. Pointed patent leather shoes; gray trousers; a dark gray jacket with a white waist-coat, to which the black eyeglass ribbon was fastened. He stood with a hand toying with the ribbon. "He annoyed you, Tremont? Charlie's a good boy. A little off mentally--like most of them here." Charlie had been summarily dismissed. Turber added: "You do not bring the charming little Nanette. Where is she? I would far rather see her than you, Tremont." Alan, from his six-foot height, gazed down at Turber. He ignored the reference to Nanette, and said: "There was a girl found in Central Park this morning. Amnesia case, the papers say. Transferred here from Bellevue. My friend Williams here does some newspaper writing--he'd like to see her." Turber's face remained calmly polite. His gaze went to me. It made my heart leap--his quiet, keen scrutiny, as though without effort he might read my thoughts. "A girl? Amnesia case? No girl came here." His glance swung between us; but his wide, thin-lipped mouth was smiling ironically. He added: "You believe what you read, evidently. You are trustful." Alan's shortness of temper surprised me. "Then you won't let us see her." "No, why should I?" "But you admit that she's here?" There was no love lost between these two! Turber rasped: "Why should I bother to let you cross-examine me?" It quieted Alan. "I know she's here. What you mean is, I have no right to demand seeing her." Turber bowed ironically. "I can get that fixed up," said Alan. "Perhaps." "Oh, I think I can." Alan was smiling now, with recovered poise. "In the first place, she is undoubtedly a public charge until her identity is established. Why Bellevue sent her to you, I can't imagine--" "That, like everything else you are saying, is none of your business." "But I intend to make it my business. They'll give Williams and me an order to see her." Quite evidently Alan knew his ground. "Come on, Ed--we're wasting time. Let's go see what they say at Bellevue. There are a lot of things about this I don't understand." * * * * * Turber said abruptly: "If you come as a friend, Tremont--" His imperturbable smile remained; but it was evident that Alan's persistence was disturbing. I could even fancy, alarming. "But you come, gruffly demanding--and you bring the power of the Press." The faint inclination of his head toward me was a bow of mockery. "You frighten me--" "Why? Is it something mysterious?" "It seems to be. Your sudden insistence--I have not seen you in a year. I have had several amnesia patients here, all ignored by you." Beneath his bantering manner he was trying, no doubt, to fathom what Alan knew. Alan was silent. I said: "Well, I'd be mighty interested to write up the case. But if we have to get an order from the Health Department--"