Produced by David Clarke, Woodie4 and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) THE MILLION-DOLLAR SUITCASE BY ALICE MacGOWAN AND PERRY NEWBERRY NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS _Copyright, 1922, by_ FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY _Copyright, 1921, by_ THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY _under the title "Two and Two"_ _Printed in the United States of America_ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I WORTH GILBERT 1 II SIGHT UNSEEN 16 III A WEDDING PARTY 27 IV AN APPARITION 45 V AT THE ST. DUNSTAN 57 VI ON THE ROOF 65 VII THE GOLD NUGGET 75 VIII A TIN-HORN GAMBLER 87 IX SANTA YSOBEL 101 X A SHADOW IN THE FOG 110 XI THE MISSING DIARY 124 XII A MURDER 137 XIII DR. BOWMAN 147 XIV SEVEN LOST DAYS 155 XV AT DYKEMAN'S OFFICE 164 XVI A LUNCHEON 171 XVII CLEANSING FIRES 181 XVIII THE TORN PAGE 188 XIX ON THE HILL-TOP 196 XX AT THE COUNTRY CLUB 209 XXI A MATTER OF TASTE 214 XXII A DINNER INVITATION 225 XXIII A BIT OF SILK 231 XXIV THE MAGNET 240 XXV AN ARREST 250 XXVI MRS. BOWMAN SPEAKS 261 XXVII THE BLOSSOM FESTIVAL 273 XXVIII THE COUNTRY CLUB BALL 293 XXIX UNMASKED 303 XXX A CONFESSION 311 XXXI THE MILLION-DOLLAR SUITCASE 320 THE MILLION-DOLLAR SUITCASE CHAPTER I WORTH GILBERT On the blank silence that followed my last words, there in the big, dignified room with its Circassian walnut and sound-softening rugs, Dykeman, the oldest director, squalled out as though he had been bitten, "All there is to tell! But it can't be! It isn't possib--" His voice cracked, split on the word, and the rest came in an agonized squeak, "A man can't just vanish into thin air!" "A man!" Knapp, the cashier, echoed. "A suitcase full of money--our money--can't vanish into thin air in the course of a few hours."