Page:O'Higgins--The Adventures of Detective Barney.djvu/225

 evidence to indicate that the blackmailers had either sent, or were preparing to send, letters to a Mrs. P. P. Harper,—who, it seems, is your sister. Her address, as they had it in their note book, was a town address, was n’t it, Barney?”

“Yes, sir,” Barney said.

He put aside the report. “We found that she was away from home, visiting you. And I ’phoned you in order to find out whether the letters received by her were sufficient for our purpose.”

“To prosecute on?”

“Yes.”

Van Amberg shook his head. “It ’s out of the question.”

“Because the letters were insufficient? Or because Mrs. Harper is averse to—”

“For both reasons. She ’s been very ill. I ’ve intercepted the letters, and she has never seen them. I would n’t have her involved in a case of this kind, if it were to convict all the blackmailers in America.”