“Wonder what the ‘extra’ is all about?” said Ted.

“Oh, same old thing, I reckon,” said Bud. “’All erbout ther turribul disaster.’  An’ when yer buys a paper yer see in big letters at ther top, ‘Man Kills,’ and down below it, ‘Mother-in-law!’ But in little type between them yer read ther follerin’, to wit, ‘Cat to spite.’  I’ve been stung by them things before.”

“I’m going to buy one, anyway,” laughed Ted.  “I don’t mind being stung for a cent.”

He beckoned to a newsboy, bought a paper, and opened it.

“What’s this?” he almost shouted.

Great black letters sprawled across the top of the page.

“Express Messenger Found Dead,” was the first line, and below it was the confirmation of Ted’s belief that a great robbery had taken place.  It was “Forty Thousand Dollars Taken from the Safe.”

“There’s the owner of the abandoned automobile, the fellow who boarded the train with the heavy grip,” said Ted to Bud, who was staring over his shoulder.

The article following the startling headlines told the circumstances of the robbery.

The train that entered the Union Station at six o’clock that morning had been robbed in some mysterious manner between a junction a short distance out of St. Louis, where the express messenger had been seen alive by a fellow messenger in another car.  When the car was opened in the station, after being switched to the express track, the messenger was found lying on the floor of the car with a bullet through his head.  The safe had been blown open and its contents rifled.

The express company had kept silent about the murder and robbery until late in the day, when the body of the messenger was found by a reporter in an undertaker’s establishment.

As for the other details, a policeman at the Union Station said that he had noticed a man come out of the waiting room carrying a grip that seemed more than ordinarily heavy.  A red motor car was waiting outside the station, and the man got into it and drove away at a fast pace.  The policeman had not noticed the number on the car.

How the robber and murderer got into the express car was a mystery, as the car was locked when it was switched into the express track, and there were no marks of a violent entry on the outside of the car.

“What aire yer goin’ ter do erbout it?” asked Bud.  “Aire yer goin’ ter turn over ther motor car an’ give yer infermation ter ther police?”

“Not on your life,” answered Ted.  “At least, not yet.  I’m going to work on it a bit myself first.”

“But won’t Mr. Truax tip it off?”

“I’ll warn him not to.”

“But how erbout ther feller in ther check suit what wuz so kind an’ attentive ter us?”

“He’s hiding out, now that the robbery has become public.  I’m not afraid of him.”

“What’s ther first move?”

“Locate and identify the car.”