didn't pull it; neither did he pull mine. I even have hopes that the two features may come to terms. To-morrow, at exactly this hour, you're due to know why. But meanwhile I want you to promise me patience, blind faith and—unquestioning help. There's no time to waste over it, so here goes! Who's the most influential man you know in New York?" 

 "George Gould," he said. 

 "Pooh! a mere millionaire. He's no use to me. Do you know anyone in the police force—high enough up to do you a favour?" 

 Price pondered for an instant.  "I know Sam Yelverton.  Is that name familiar to you?" 

 "It is. Think we'll find him in now if you take me to call?" 

 "If this is our lucky day we shall." 

 "Let's put it to the test. I've noticed that New York has taxis as well as London." 

 "And you'll notice the difference when you've paid for one. But this is on me." 

 The omen of luck was good, for we found our man at the police head-quarters, and, true to his promise, Carr Price sat as still and expressionless as an owl while I did the talking. I had been introduced to the great Sam Yelverton by my own request as the author of The Key, and it really was a stroke of luck that he had read and liked it. He looked interested when I said that I'd got an idea for my book from a cause célèbre in New York—"The Callender-Graham affair," I explained. 

 "Ah, the latchkeys in the dead men's pockets!" he caught me up. 

 "Exactly. Now it's a question of a play by Mr. Price, on the same lines as my book and with the same title, soon, very soon, to be produced at the Felborn Theatre. It will be of the greatest assistance to him and to me in working out an important detail if I can have Ned Callender-Graham's latchkeys—anyhow, the smaller one—in my hands for a few hours to-day. Indeed, I'm afraid we can't get much 'forrarder' if you refuse." 

 (This was the literal truth, for, unless I could obtain the more important of those two keys and do with it what I hoped to do, I should be unable to "deliver the goods" to Roger Odell. I should stand with him where I had stood before the "hold up" interview, and the 

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