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82 trying to tell me something, and you are afraid to come through with it. I could take you down to Headquarters and make you speak; but I won't, because you've volunteered this to me and I will keep quiet about it. I think you ought to finish what you've started, though. Tell me what's on your mind."

"Nothing," she repeated, still in hushed but vehement tones. "There is nothing on my mind, sir. I should not have spoken. You will let me depart now?"

Odell saw that there was nothing more to be gained from her at the time, either by bullying or cajolery, and he nodded reluctantly.

"All right, Gerda. If you have anything else you want to say to me any time just let me know, and I promise you I'll keep it to myself. Thank you for giving me the tip for future cases."

He had struck the right note, for at the door she turned and came slowly back.

"Remember, then, one thing that I have said to you, sir. Sometimes they are able to hide it so cleverly that you would be thought crazy yourself if you accused them without proof."

This time she left the room without looking back, and for a space he sat mentally going over their interview word for word. Her last admonition had made her attitude clear to him; she suspected someone but without actual knowledge, without proof. She also was convinced of that person's insanity, but whether that conviction came from mere intuition or expert knowledge of such cases remained to be seen. She might have lied about having been an attendant in a sanitarium; she looked quite capable of lying