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38 couldn't find it! Then it must have been Mary, after all. But why didn't she throw the screw-driver away? Perhaps she thought it would be missed, and wanted a chance to have it straightened out."

"Perhaps so," said Astro dryly.

"But what about the scrap of paper, then?" asked the girl. "Have you made anything of that?"

"A good deal," replied the Master. "For instance, here's the rest of the sheet," and he took from his pocket the portion that he had removed from the ash barrel. "Does that give you a clue?"

She studied a moment. "Now, wait! Don't tell me, please! Your rule is, 'Ask yourself what there is about this crime that distinguishes it from others. How is it different from the ordinary run of things? Then seize upon that difference, be it great or small, and proceed logically and analytically in any direction it offers.' But what is different? It's all different, it seems to me."

"Well, you work it out, and I'll go down and try to find an express office in which a flat parcel addressed to a Chicago millionaire will have been noticed. You may turn away any people who come for a reading. This is going to bring in more money than I thought, and it will pay to follow it up while it's hot."

Valeska met him at the front door when he returned, and said in a low voice, "Mr. Barrister is here."

"Certainly," said Astro. "I telephoned him to be here at four o'clock."

"Then you are finished ?"

"You'll see."