and you need spare no expense. If you are successful, we will pay you liberally, besides the rewards offered."
"One of the rules of my Agency," I replied, "forbids the acceptance of rewards; hence, I wish it understood in advance, that my only charges will be according to my regular schedule of prices, and that I expect nothing more. This is my invariable custom, whether the case be one of murder, arson, burglary, or simple theft; the number of detectives, and the time they are employed, will determine the amount I shall charge."
We then arranged the financial portion of our agreement to our mutual satisfaction, and I began my investigations.
"What detectives have you hitherto employed, Mr. Bannatine?" I asked.
"I first laid the matter before two New York detectives, who had been highly recommended to me," he replied; "but they could offer no satisfactory theory to work upon, and after staying here three or four weeks, they said that the murder must have been committed by some member of a gang of gamblers; they thought the murderer would probably go to New Orleans to exchange his money, and that it would be easy to learn by going to that city, whether any gambler had had an unusual amount of money about that time. We were not very well satisfied with this theory, and so the detectives returned to New York. We next engaged two detectives from New Orleans, but they were equally unsuccessful. We then allowed the matter to rest until about a month ago, when we heard such a favorable account of the manner in which you had conducted a case of great difficulty, that we began to discuss the propriety of engaging you in investigating this affair. The more we heard of you, the better we were satisfied, and finally, we authorized Mr. McGregor to write to you on the subject."
"Well, Mr. Bannatine, I shall do my best," I replied, "but you must not expect me to work miracles. Now, I am going to ask you a number of questions, and I wish you to answer them without regard to their apparent drift. Who were George Gordon's intimate friends?"
"Mr. Flanders, Mr. Drysdale, Mr. Patterson, and Mr. Henry Caruthers; I think they were the only ones he was really very intimate with; isn't it so, Mr. Gordon?"
"Yes; George had very few cronies," replied Mr. Gordon.
"Who is Mr. Caruthers?" I asked.
"He is the son of a wealthy planter living a few miles from town," replied Mr. Bannatine.
"Where was he the afternoon previous to the murder?"
"He came into the bank for a few minutes," said Mr. Gordon, "and asked George to spend Sunday with him on the plantation; then he rode home."
"Were there any strange men in or about the bank that day?"
"None, so far as we could learn; nearly every person that I can recollect having seen that day was a customer, or a townsman whom I knew."
"When George gave up carrying the safe keys home with him, where did he leave them?"
"There is a secret drawer in that desk, which opens by pressing this knob, thus," said Mr. McGregor, suiting the action to the word; "we used to keep the keys there."
"Did any one beside you four gentlemen know this hiding place?"
"I am sure that no one else knew it," said Mr. McGregor.
"Was it necessary for George to open the safe that night, or could he have done his work without going into the vault at all?"
"He had work to do on the journal and ledger, and he would have to use the keys to get them out of the vault. He did not need to open the inner safe where the money was, however."
"Does the outer vault key open both doors?"
"No; but they were kept on the same chain for convenience."
"Were the ledger and journal on George's desk when you entered the bank, Mr. Gordon?"
"No, sir; they were put away in their usual places in the vault."
"Did they show any marks of blood?"
"None at all; they were perfectly clean."
"Could you tell from their appearance whether George had done any work upon them that night?"
"Yes; I am sure he had done a great deal; in fact he had finished up all entries to date."
"Were there any papers missing besides the money?"
"Yes; one or two bundles of old checks, drafts, etc., were used to assist in burning the murderer's clothes. They were fastened in packages with fine wire, and we found the wire in the grate."
"Then this note, signed 'Alexander P. Drysdale,' might have been pulled out of one of these packages?"
"I suppose so; I don't know where else it came from; do you, Mr. McGregor?" said Mr. Gordon, rather bewildered.
"No; I never thought about where it came from," said Mr. McGregor. "I suppose the man built a fire of old papers and the fragments of the waste paper baskets, and then used that note to set them on fire from the lamp."
"There were no papers of any value used, then?" I continued.
"Oh, no; the papers were old bundles, merely kept as archives of the bank."
I then picked up the note and glanced at it; as I did so, something caught my eye which sent the blood throbbing through my veins at a feverish speed. Enough of the date remained to show that it was drawn some time during the year of the murder, hence it could hardly be one of the archives. Besides, a note, if paid, would be returned to the maker, canceled; if unpaid, it would be kept among the bills receivable, in the inner safe; in neither case could it have been stowed away among the old checks and drafts. This reasoning passed through my mind quickly, and I realized that that little piece of paper might play an important part in the tragedy after all. I did not form any definite theory on the instant, but still I had a sort of presentiment that I had touched a spring which might open the windows of this dark mystery and let in the light of day. I did not show what I thought to my companions, but continued to ask questions.
"Was Mr. Patterson in the bank the day of the murder, Mr. Gordon?"
"Oh, no; he was not in this part of the country at that time; he had been in Mobile for some weeks."
"I understood you to say that Mr. Flanders went no further than the private door with George; did he notice any one standing about when he came away?"
"No; he stopped only an instant, while George unlocked the door, and then gave the jewel box to him to put away. George wished him good night, with the remark that he could not ask him in, as he would be too busy to entertain him. Mr. Flanders then came straight back to my store; but he said at the inquest that he heard George lock the door behind him, and that he saw no one around the building."
"Do you know anything about his circumstances at that time? Was he in need of money?"
"No, indeed; he had a large balance to his credit. Why, surely, you do not see any reason to suspect Mr. Flanders?" said Mr. McGregor.
"I don't say that I suspect anybody," I replied, "but I wish to gather all the information possible. Now, please tell me how large a balance Mr. Flanders had on deposit."
Mr.
