“Do sit-down beside Mrs. Price, Mr. Round,” Leonidas said courteously. “Mr. Round was on the verge of going to Milwaukee, Cassie. D’you know Milwaukee well, Mr. Round?”
The judge, Leonidas thought, had trained the little man well. He answered obediently in spite of his complete bewilderment.
“No. Oh, no. I just got the telegram saying I was to come. This cousin of mine is ill. Henry Clay Round. I haven’t thought of him for years. They want me to come at once. I didn’t think I ought to go, with the meeting at the auditorium, and all, but the judge insisted. She said it was my duty. It’s pretty fine about my wife, isn’t it?”
“You mean, her being the candidate for mayor? M’yes,” Leonidas said. “M’yes indeed. It’s very fine. Be still, Cassie.”
“Er—I guess,” Ernest squirmed on the back seat, “if you don’t mind, I guess I’d better get on to Milwaukee. Did you say something about a bag outside?”
“Very possibly,” Leonidas swung his pince-nez, “I did mention a bag. Persiflage, entirely. Mr. Round, I wish you’d relax and tell me when this telegram arrived from’ Henry Clay.”
“This evening. Just after we got back from your house. After helping Elsa with the Pussycats. Really, I feel I should be going. Really. I’m late now. The judge needed our car, so she asked some friends of hers to come and take me to the station—she had to be getting on to the auditorium, of course. But they didn’t come, and I had to take a taxicab—”
Leonidas pushed Mr. Round gently back against the seat.
“M’yes. Friends of the judge. Could one possibly have been Lieutenant Rossi?”
“Yes. But he didn’t come. I suppose he was too busy. He’s very active with the Voters League. I said I thought it was asking too much of him, but the judge said he would be glad to give me a ride.”
“Wow!” Margie said. “Wow! Another ride. Bill, they got the jitters. They’re scared. Another ride!”
“Just one ride,” Ernest Round said. “Just here to the station.”
“Bill,” Cassie spoke in a voice of ominous calm, “those placards said ‘Round for Mayor!’ I thought they said ‘Hound the Mayor!’”
“It was ‘Round for Mayor,’” Ernest said proudly. “It sounds well, don’t you think? You know, I hoped I might be mayor, myself, when I started in the Water Department. That was thirty-seven years ago next week. But of course things are different now. It’s pretty complicated to be mayor, these days. Hustle, and bustle, and excitement. I really hate to go off to Milwaukee and miss the best part, tonight at the auditorium. But, as Hattie said, I did my part, saving those papers yesterday.”
“Ah,” Leonidas said. “Those papers you took from the tea party, perhaps? Er—were you at the tea party?”
“He was there,” Miss Chard said. “Medora definitely remembered him when we were trying to think if any outsiders had come to the house. He got some papers from the judge, and rushed off. But I thought I saw your car later, out by the corner, Mr. Round?”
“Yes, Dow hailed me as I went by,” Mr. Round said. “I was in a tremendous hurry, because the judge wanted the papers put in her office safe at once. They were trying to blackmail her, you know, but she got the papers. And then Dow hailed me and asked me about the water connection—really, that’s a very interesting installation Dow has there. Very. I’ve enjoyed watching that installation, Mr. Witherall. I might say it’s been an eye-opener, as I tried to tell the judge when I tried to explain to her. You see, ordinarily the main conduit—”
“M’yes, quite,” Leonidas said. “Dow hailed you, and you went into my house to view my interesting connections. Did you take the papers with you?”
Ernest Round sighed.
“As I told the judge, it seemed like the best idea. I suppose I should have done as she told me, and taken the papers straight to her office. I shouldn’t have stopped. But that main hookup was so very interesting, and I didn’t think it would matter if I stopped for a few minutes. So I took the box of papers in with me. And then, while I’ was in the kitchen, I heard Colonel Carpenter talking on the phone—”
“Rutherford!” Cassie said. “He’s been in on this all the time! Go on, Ernest. Quick!”
“Well,” Ernest said unhappily, “I don’t know who the colonel was talking to, or what about, but he very distinctly said, ‘I know who has the papers, and I’ll get them at once.’ And—well, I had a moment of panic. I remembered how important Hattie said those papers I had were. And—well—”
“You opened my red refrigerator,” Leonidas said, “and put the papers inside. Isn’t that so?”
“That’s it,” Ernest said. “So it was you who found the papers and gave them back to Hattie! You see, I realized almost at once that the colonel wasn’t referring to my papers, but when I opened the refrigerator, they were gone. Disappeared. Hattie couldn’t understand that, but it’s just what happened. There was a click, and they disappeared. Hattie just wouldn’t believe it, but that’s what happened.”
“I bet,” Cassie said, “that the judge was pretty perturbed, wasn’t she, when you broke the news?” Ernest sighed again.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so upset! She told Lieutenant Rossi, and he was terribly upset, too. But later last night, Hattie said everything was all right, and for me to forget the whole thing. So I did. You know what I’m afraid? I’m afraid I’ve missed my train to Milwaukee!”
“Mr. Round,” Leonidas said; “I have a splendid idea. Why don’t you take a plane? Then you could go to the auditorium, and then Cuff will drive you into Boston, and you can get a plane.”
“The judge wouldn’t approve,” Ernest said at once. “She wouldn’t think it safe.” He hesitated. “On the other hand, I do want to be at
