appeals, and a final fight before the United States Supreme court, for he knew that the Kuro people had plenty of money and the kind of influence which counts in an emergency.”
“And then what happened?”
“Colleton knew that he had a legal fight on his hands, but he never suspected that he had a personal fight. One day he disappeared from his office in the post-office department at Washington, and his proof disappeared with him. He has never been seen by his friends since that day.”
“And now we’ve got to find him!” exclaimed Jimmie.
“That’s what we’ve got to do!” echoed Carl.
“But, I don’t understand how they got him out of his own room, and got his proof out of the building without attracting attention!” Ben suggested. “They must have had several operatives at work.”
“They certainly did!” was the reply. “Colleton was sitting in his office at three:fifteen one Monday afternoon. The safe in which his papers were kept was locked. The desk in which his memoranda were stored was also locked. When last seen sitting at his desk, he was making memoranda concerning a case not at all connected with the Kuro matter. These papers were not taken.”
“That was bad editing!” Ben laughed. “They should have taken all the papers in sight in order not to disclose the real object of the robbery. The rascals slipped a cog there!”
“The first error in the whole case,” Mr. Havens went on. “Only for the fact that Kuro papers were taken exclusively, it might have been claimed that the respondents in some of the other criminal cases being handled by Colleton had committed the outrage.”
“Where did Colleton go when he left his office?” asked Ben.
“That’s exactly what we don’t know.”
“Who saw him leave his office?”
“No one.”
“Well, then, who saw any one enter his office?”
“No one.”
“Well,” laughed Ben, “how could Colleton get out of his office without being seen? Perhaps he went out unobserved and took the proof with him! You haven’t said whether the safe and desk were opened.”
“They were opened,” was the reply, “by some one knowing the combination to the safe, and some one having a key to the desk. All the proof collected by Colleton disappeared that day.”
“And the patent medicine men finally got up to his price!” grinned Jimmie. “I guess it’s the old story!”
“That’s what makes it so provoking,” said Mr. Havens, impatiently. “A good many people in Washington are saying the same thing. It is unjust to the inspector and very annoying to his friends.”
“And no one went into his office that afternoon?” asked Carl.
“Not that we know of.”
“And no one went near his office door?” asked Jimmie.
“I didn’t say that!” replied Mr. Havens. “His office door opens on a wide corridor, at that time being used as desk space by an overflow of clerks. At three:ten that afternoon two men stopped at Colleton’s door, but did not enter.”
“How do you know they didn’t enter?” Carl broke in.
“No one saw them enter or come out. No one heard the door open or close. One of the men, a heavily-built, bearded fellow, seemed to be urging the other to enter Colleton’s room. The man who was being urged was younger, thinner, and appeared to be greatly excited.”
“Were they the only men seen at that door about that time?” asked Ben.
“So it is said,” was the reply.
“And Colleton was at his desk just before the men were seen at his door?” asked Jimmie.
“Five minutes before!”
“And the person who entered his room after the two men departed found it vacant?”
“That’s the idea exactly!”
“Did you say the young thin man was excited?”
“Perhaps excited is not the correct word,” was Mr. Havens’ reply. “He seemed to be dazed with fear. The clerk sitting near the door received the idea that the man had nerved himself up to the point of confessing a crime or a dereliction of duty, and had lost his courage when he reached the door of the inspector’s room.”
“Did this young man look like Colleton?” asked Ben.
“Not at all. Colleton wore a light moustache only. This man wore a full beard. Colleton’s eyes are bright, snappy, far-seeing. This man’s eyes looked dull and lifeless under the glasses he wore. Colleton is straight, alert, confident. This man dragged his feet as he walked and his shoulders hunched together.”
“Where did the two men go after they left Colleton’s door?” asked Ben. “Did no one watch them?”
“No further attention was paid to them.”
“Would any of the clerks in the corridor know the big fellow again?”
“I don’t think so. I don’t think they paid enough attention to know whether his eyes were blue or black or brown.”
“Then they didn’t notice the other fellow very particularly, did they?”
“No, in fact, except for his dazed and dejected manner and his odd dress they probably wouldn’t have noticed the young man particularly. But why are you asking these questions,” Mr. Havens answered with a laugh. “Are you boys going to solve, off-hand, a mystery over which Washington detectives have been puzzling for many weeks?”
“No,” Ben answered, “but I know when Colleton left his room.”
CHAPTER V.
A MIDNIGHT FLIGHT
“Then you know more about the case than the detectives at Washington!” smiled Mr. Havens. “When do you think he left his room?”
“I don’t think, I know!”
“Well, get it out of your system!” exclaimed Jimmie.
“He left his room,” Ben chuckled, “about one second before those two men appeared in the corridor outside his door!”
“I suppose you happened to be coming out of another office, just across the corridor, and happened to see him coming out, didn’t you?” jeered Carl. “You always were the wise little boy!”
“Now, look here,” Ben said, more seriously, “me for the Brainy Bowers act in this little play. In time the truth of the matter will be known, and when that time comes you just remember your Uncle Dudley’s forecast.”
“You haven’t made any forecast yet!”
“I’ll make a guess then,” Ben answered. “I’ll just call it a guess. I’ll guess that Colleton came out of his
