* * * * * The next morning George Remington reached from his bed for his telephone and called up the Sheridan residence. Two minutes later Penfield Evans heard a shout. At his door stood the unclad and pallid candidate for district attorney. "Penny," he gasped, "Genevieve's not there! She has not been with Betty all night. And Betty has gone out to find E. Eliot, who is missing from her boarding-house!" "Are you sure----" "God--Penny--I thought I had stopped it!" George was back in his room, flying into his clothes. The two men were talking loudly. From down the hall a sleepy voice--unmistakably Mrs. Brewster-Smith's--was drawling: "George--George--are you awake? I didn't hear you come in. Dear Genevieve went over to stay all night with Cousin Betty, and the oddest thing happened. About midnight the telephone bell rang, and that odious Eliot person called you up!" George was in the hall in an instant and before Mrs. Brewster-Smith's door. "Well, well, for God's sake, what did she say!" he cried. "Oh, yes, I was coming to that. She said to send your chauffeur with the car down to the--oh, I forget, some nasty factory or something, for Genevieve. She said Genevieve was down there talking to the factory girls. Fancy that, George! So I just put up the receiver. I knew Genevieve was with Betty Sheridan and not with that odious person at all--it was some ruse to get your car and compromise you. Fancy dear Genevieve talking to the factory girls at midnight!" Penfield Evans and George Remington, standing in the hall, listened to these words with terror in their hearts. "Get Noonan first," said George. "I'll talk to him." In five seconds Evans had Noonan's residence. Remington listened to Penny's voice. "Gone," he was saying. "Gone where?" And then: "Why, he was at the dinner last---What's Doolittle's number?" ("Noonan went to New York on the midnight train," he threw at George.) A moment later Remington heard his partner cry, "Doolittle's gone to New York? On the midnight train?" "Try Norton," snapped George. Soon he heard Penny exclaim. "Albany?" said Penny. "Mr. Norton is in Albany? Thank you!" "Their alibis!" said Evans calmly, as he hung up the receiver and stared at his partner. "Well, it--it----Why, Penny, they've stolen Genevieve! That damned Mike and the Armenian! They've got Genevieve with that Eliot woman! God----Why, Penny, for God's sake, what----" "Slowly, George--slowly. Let's move carefully." The voice of Penfield Evans was cool and steady, "First of all, we need not worry about any harm coming to Genevieve. She is with Miss Eliot, and that woman has more sense than a man. She may be depended upon. Now, then," Evans waved his partner to silence and went on: "the next thing to consider is how much publicity we shall give this episode." He paused. "It's not a matter of publicity; it's a matter of getting Genevieve immediately."