Again the White Card

All of the following day the boys wandered about trying their best to form some definite opinion about the mystery of the white card so that they might act upon it. But however they discussed the situation, they could come to no conclusion nor hit upon any new clue. In desperation, they gave it up for the present and decided to let events take their course; perhaps something might turn up in several days or weeks that would give them a clue which they could follow with some chance of clearing up the situation.

Two days later, something did happen, but it only helped to complicate things further. Paul was walking along Main Street when he heard an automobile horn and he turned around to see who it was. A police car pulled up to the curb and Walters waved to him. “Hey, there, fellow,” he called. “Come on, get in.”

Paul got into the car. “Hello, Walters,” he said, “anything up?”

“Yes,” said the detective. “I have a very baffling case to solve and when I saw you walking along, I thought I might ask you to help me.” They both laughed and the detective added, “Are you bent on going any place in particular?”

[238]

“Well, I was going to the library. But I have plenty of time.”

“That’s fine. Then you can drive along with me for a while. I hate to drive all by myself with no one to talk to.”

“I don’t mind,” said Paul. “Where are you driving to?”

“That’s just it. No place in particular.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” said the detective, “we got a report about fifteen minutes ago that a car was stolen.” He brought a slip of paper out of his pocket and gave it to Paul. “Here,” he said, “look at it and then keep your eyes open. We will begin at one end of the town and ride through street by street. It may be that the owner parked it somewhere and forgot the place.”

Paul looked at the slip of paper. He read, “Ford ... four door sedan ... license number S 91 52.”

For a while they rode along talking of various things. They rode down one street and up the next street. Walters related some experiences of his as a detective. Finally he remarked, “By the way, the oddest thing happened to me yesterday. I was walking along and suddenly I noticed a man that was the exact image of George Wilson, the government agent. I was so astonished, I couldn’t imagine him being in town when two days ago I saw him off on the train.”

[239]

“Did you stop him?” demanded Paul excitedly. “Did you see where he went?”

The detective said, “Why, no. That’s just it. I closed my eyes for a second because I thought they were deceiving me. When I opened them again, he was gone.”

“Now isn’t that the worst of luck,” said Paul. “He is just the man we are looking for.”

“What did he do?” asked Walters. “What do you want him for?”

“We need him to clear up the mystery of the white card. We think he is the missing link in the puzzle.”

“That’s right,” remarked the detective. “I think I remember you telling me something about this white card mystery. Did you do anything about it?”

“No. And that is why we are looking for this man.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, our original clues led up to our following this man. But we got him mixed up with the government agent and that is how we happened to come upon the counterfeit gang. Well, si............