We entered also at a discreet distance and sat down at a table.

“Don’t look around, Walter,” whispered Craig, as the waiter took our order, “but to your right is Mrs. Sutphen.”

If he had mentioned any other name in the world, I could not have been more surprised.  I waited impatiently until I could pick her out from the corner of my eye.  Sure enough, it was Mrs. Sutphen and another woman.  What they were doing there I could not imagine, for neither had the look of habitues of such a place.

I followed Kennedy’s eye and found that he was gazing furtively at a flashily dressed young man who was sitting alone at the far end in a sort of booth upholstered in leather.

The girl in white, whom I was now sure was Miss Sawtelle, went over and greeted him.  It was too far to see just what happened, but the young woman after sitting down rose and left almost immediately.  As nearly as I could make out, she had got something from him which she had dropped into her handbag and was now hugging the handbag close to herself almost as if it were gold.

We sat for a few minutes debating just what to do, when Mrs. Sutphen and her friend rose.  As she passed out, a quick, covert glance told us to follow.  We did so and the two turned into Broadway.

“Let me present you to Miss McCann,” introduced Mrs. Sutphen as we caught up with them.  “Miss McCann is a social worker and trained investigator whom I’m employing.”

We bowed, but before we could ask a question, Mrs. Sutphen cried excitedly:  “I think I have a clue, anyway.  We’ve traced the source of the drugs at least as far as that young fellow, ‘Whitecap,’ whom you saw in there.”

I had not recognized his face, although I had undoubtedly seen pictures of him before.  But no sooner had I heard the name than I recognized it as that of one of the most notorious gang leaders on the West Side.

Not only that, but Whitecap’s gang played an important part in local politics.  There was scarcely a form of crime or vice to which Whitecap and his followers could not turn a skilled hand, whether it was swinging an election, running a gambling club, or dispensing “dope.”

“You see,” she explained, “even before I saw you, my suspicions were aroused and I determined to obtain some of the stuff they are using up here, if possible.  I realized it would be useless for me to try to get it myself, so I got Miss McCann from the Neighborhood House to try it.  She got it and has turned the bottle over to me.”

“May I see it?” asked Craig eagerly.

Mrs. Sutphen reached hastily into her handbag, drew forth a small brown glass bottle and handed it to him.  Craig retreated into one of the less dark side streets.  There he pulled out the paraffinned cork from the bottle, picked out a piece of cotton stuffed in the neck of the bottle and poured out some flat tablets that showed a glistening white in the palm of his hand.  For an instant he regarded them.