“Swear!  Indeed I will.  I’ll swear on a dozen Bibles any time and anywhere.”

“That’s good,” Mr. Westcote replied, as he bade him good-day.  “We shall need you before long, if I’m not much mistaken, so be ready.”

Dobbins had scarcely left the office when Lois and Margaret arrived.

“My, how the morning has gone!” Mr. Westcote remarked as he greeted Lois with a hearty shake of the hand.  “I suppose we had better get down to business at once, as no doubt you wish to go home this afternoon.  I hope you will pardon my sending for you and giving you all this trouble.”

“I do not mind in the least,” Lois replied, “for I am sure it has something to do with the murder, and I am so anxious to learn whether you have found out anything new.”

“Only something this morning, Miss Sinclair, which may be of considerable value.  I trust that we may unearth more in a few days.”

“Oh, don’t wait for a few days, Mr. Westcote,” Lois pleaded.  “You must act at once, this very afternoon, if the criminal is to be caught.”

“How can we, Miss Sinclair,” was the reply, “when we are not sure who the real criminal is?”

“But I know, and I think you will agree with me when I tell you my story.  Listen.”

Lois then related what she had heard from Andy Forbes and Betty Bean.  She told her story well and Mr. Westcote was keenly interested not only in what she told him, but in the animated look in her eyes and the varying shades of expression which passed over her fair face.  He considered Jasper a lucky fellow in having such a beautiful woman striving so hard for his release.

When Lois had finished, Mr. Westcote turned to his desk and drew the telephone toward him.

“What you tell me, Miss Sinclair,” he said, “is very valuable, and I must see my lawyer at once.  Excuse me a moment.”

After he had called up the lawyer and asked him to come at once to his office, he hung up the receiver and sat for a few seconds lost in deep thought.

“Yes, we had better do it at once,” he remarked as if to himself.  “It will not do to run any risk.”

“Do what, Father?” Margaret enquired.

“Have that Bramshaw detained.  I have received some additional information to-day, and with what Miss Sinclair has just told me it should be enough to arrest any man.  Now, I must come to the question I wish to speak to you about,” and he turned to Lois.  “You have told me your story and in return I shall relate one perhaps of a more startling nature.”

“In connection with this same affair?” Lois eagerly asked.

“It has a direct bearing upon it.  It has to do with the mystery which has been surrounding the life of old David.”

“And does it clear it up?”

“Wait, please, until I am through, and you can judge for yourself,” Mr. Westcote smilingly told her.

“I shall be as patient as Job,” Lois replied, as she settled herself in her chair as comfortably as possible.