'What do you mean? How could he? There are no records he could get at. I'll swear to that. And I never told him.'
'Nobody had to teU hun. There is one person he could locate, all right.'
'Whor
'Clinton McCauley.''
'Well . . . yes.'
'Emily said she went to see her brother once a month.'
'Yes.'
'Didn't Emily fight for her brother at the time of that crime? Wasn't she there, in Hestia?'
'Yes, she was.'
'So Dick Bartee had seen her? Might know her when he saw her again?' 'Possibly.'
'What's to stop Dick Bartee from hangnng around watching who visits the prison? He'd certainly have a clue as to what she'd look like. Then, when he spots Emily, following her home? Then he knows where she lives and under what name. Wait a minute. Two girls!' Johnny jerked upright. 'How could he know which girl was going to get the money? The names were changed.'
The lawyer sat still and closed his eyes. In a moment he opened them and said, 'Maybe I can tell you how. Listen. When we had lunch that day I said we talked about impersonal stufiF, One impersonal topic was politics. Dick Bartee said to the girls, 1 don't suppose you pretty young things can vote yet?' '
'And Dorothy said, 'I can; she can't.' 'And Nan said, 'But in another year, I can.' 'So he knew which girl by her age, of course.' 'Uh huh,' said Johnny.
'We will have to tell Nan right away,' Copeland said anxiously.
'We haven't got McCauley's permission to tell her yet.' 'WhatI He's the one who swears Dick Bartee killed his wiiel'
'Now he wants to believe different,' Johnny said. 'To spare Nan. Not to break her heart. He wants to be shown that he has been wrong.'
Copeland stared. 'He's been wrong,' he said shortly. 'I never could believe the boy did it. But what does he mean?' 'I'm to check. I've already tested that ahbi.' Johnny told about George Rush. 'Trouble is,' Johnny confessed, 'this Rush is very sour on Bartee. Could be just malice. And he won't swear. Doesn't mean much?' He looked at the man of law.
'No,' said the lawyer. 'Nothing.'
'That's why I haven't called Father Klein. I don't have an'thing either way.'
'We are going to have to do something about stopping this marriage,' Copeland fumed. 'Tell Nan he's after her money.'
'Ve haven't a grain of proof that he is' said Johnny. 'Look at the way it seems. Bartee meets you because his grandfather does business with you. He meets Nan through you. He falls for her. That's simple. Easy to grasp. Happens every day. What are we going to tell her? Something complicated. We say Bartee maneuvered the whole thing, ferreted her out, got himself introduced to her, because he knew she had money. Also, when we say he wants her money, we are saying he doesn't want her. And that is something Nan may not want to believe.' Johnny knew this with a sickening certainty.
'What are you suggesting?' Copeland said rather angrily.
'I would like the proof' said Johnny. 'If Clinton Mc-Cauley is sick and obsessed, I'd hke to be sure of that. And if not, then I'd like to get Bartee for the murder of Christy McCauley, if he did it. And get Nan's father out of prison, by the way. It scarcely seems enough, just to break up a romance. Does it?'
'No,' said Copeland. 'Not if Bartee is guilty. But even if he isn't guilty of anything but fortune-hunting—I tell you I don't like this marriage.'
'If Bartee is a killer and I can prove it, that will stop the marriage,^ut good' Johnny said. 'I thought I -could' scavenge around. While there is time. I've done this, although never for real, iii exactly the same way.'
'You think you can turn up anything?'
'McCauley wants me to try.'
'Let's talk to McCauley.'
'O.K. I'll drive you over. Let me call Father Klein.'
When Johnny got the chaplain on the Hne, Father Klein broke in. 'McCauley is in the infirmary. He's gone about out of his mind. The dilemma . . .'
Johnny stiffened. 'What am I going to do, then? I promised to wait for his permission. But a decision, about telling the girl, is going to have to be made pretty soon.'
'McCauley does not want her told at all.'
'What!'
'Last clear thing he said to me. He realizes that he has judged Dick Bartee without proof. And that is wrong.'
'But, listen to mel' Johimy began to explain about the money.
The chaplain was not the man for understanding about money. He broke in. 'McCauley said that unless there is courtroom proof . . .'
