IV + 

The Vague Harpers + 

When I arrived at the agency at nine the next morning, Eric Collinson was sitting in the reception room. His sunburned face was dingy without pinkness, and he had forgotten to put stickum on his hair. + 

тАЬDo you know anything about Miss Leggett?тАЭ he asked, jumping up and meeting me at the door. тАЬShe wasnтАЩt home last night, and sheтАЩs not home yet. Her father wouldnтАЩt say he didnтАЩt know where she was, but IтАЩm sure he didnтАЩt. He told me not to worry, but how can I help worrying? Do you know anything about it?тАЭ + 

I said I didnтАЩt and told him about seeing her leave Minnie HersheyтАЩs the previous evening. I gave him the mulattoтАЩs address and suggested that he ask her. He jammed his hat on his head and hurried off. + 

Getting OтАЩGar on the phone, I asked him if he had heard from New York yet. + 

тАЬUh-huh,тАЭ he said. тАЬUptonтБатАФthatтАЩs his right nameтБатАФwas once one of you private dicksтБатАФhad an agency of his ownтБатАФtill тАЩ23, when him and a guy named Harry Ruppert were sent over for trying to fix a jury. HowтАЩd you make out with the shine?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know. This Rhino TingleyтАЩs carrying an eleven-hundred-case roll. Minnie says he got it with the rats and mice. Maybe he did: itтАЩs twice what he could have peddled LeggettтАЩs stuff for. Can you try to have it checked? HeтАЩs supposed to have got it at the Happy Day Social Club.тАЭ + 

OтАЩGar promised to do what he could and hung up. + 

I sent a wire to our New York branch, asking for more dope on Upton and Ruppert, and then went up to the county clerkтАЩs office in the municipal building, where I dug into the August and September 1923 marriage-license file. The application I wanted was dated August 26 and bore Edgar LeggettтАЩs statement that he was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 6, 1883, and that this was his second marriage; and Alice DainтАЩs statement that she was born in London, England, on October 22, 1888, and that she had not been married before. + 

When I returned to the agency, Eric Collinson, his yellow hair still further disarranged, was again lying in wait for me. + 

тАЬI saw Minnie,тАЭ he said excitedly, тАЬand she couldnтАЩt tell me anything. She said Gaby was there last night to ask her to come back to work, but thatтАЩs all she knew about her. But sheтБатАФsheтАЩs wearing an emerald ring that IтАЩm positive is GabyтАЩs.тАЭ + 

тАЬDid you ask her about it?тАЭ + 

тАЬWho? Minnie? No. How could I? It would have beenтБатАФyou know.тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs right,тАЭ I agreed, thinking of FitzstephanтАЩs Chevalier Bayard, тАЬwe must always be polite. Why did you lie to me about the time you and Miss Leggett got home the other night?тАЭ + 

Embarrassment made his face more attractive-looking and less intelligent. + 

тАЬThat was silly of me,тАЭ he stammered, тАЬbut I didnтАЩtтБатАФyou knowтБатАФI thought youтБатАФI was afraidтБатАФтАЭ + 

He wasnтАЩt getting anywhere. I suggested: тАЬYou thought that was a late hour and didnтАЩt want me to get wrong notions about her?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes, thatтАЩs it.тАЭ + 

I shooed him out and went into the operativesтАЩ room, where Mickey LinehanтБатАФbig, loose-hung, red-facedтБатАФand Al MasonтБатАФslim, dark, sleekтБатАФwere swapping lies about the times they had been shot at, each trying to pretend he had been more frightened than the other. I told them who was who and what was what on the Leggett jobтБатАФas far as my knowledge went, and it didnтАЩt go far when I came to putting it in wordsтБатАФand sent Al out to keep an eye on the LeggettsтАЩ house, Mickey to see how Minnie and Rhino behaved. + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett, her pleasant face shadowed, opened the door when I rang the bell an hour later. We went into the green, orange, and chocolate room, where we were joined by her husband. I passed on to them the information about Upton that OтАЩGar had received from New York and told them I had wired for more dope on Ruppert. + 

тАЬSome of your neighbors saw a man who was not Upton loitering around,тАЭ I said, тАЬand a man who fits the same description ran down the fire-escape from the room Upton was killed in. WeтАЩll see what Ruppert looks like.тАЭ + 

I was watching LeggettтАЩs face. Nothing changed in it. His too bright red-brown eyes held interest and nothing else. + 

I asked: тАЬIs Miss Leggett in?тАЭ + 

He said: тАЬNo.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhen will she be in?тАЭ + 

тАЬProbably not for several days. SheтАЩs gone out of town.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhere can I find her?тАЭ I asked, turning to Mrs.┬аLeggett. тАЬIтАЩve some questions to ask her.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett avoided my gaze, looking at her husband. + 

His metallic voice answered my question: тАЬWe donтАЩt know, exactly. Friends of hers, a Mr.┬аand Mrs.┬аHarper, drove up from Los Angeles and asked her to go along on a trip up in the mountains. I donтАЩt know which route they intended taking, and doubt if they had any definite destination.тАЭ + 

I asked questions about the Harpers. Leggett admitted knowing very little about them. Mrs.┬аHarperтАЩs first name was Carmel, he said, and everybody called the man Bud, but Leggett wasnтАЩt sure whether his name was Frank or Walter. Nor did he know the HarpersтАЩ Los Angeles address. He thought they had a house somewhere in Pasadena, but wasnтАЩt sure, having, in fact, heard something about their selling the house, or perhaps only intending to. While he told me this nonsense, his wife sat staring at the floor, lifting her blue eyes twice to look swiftly, pleadingly, at her husband. + 

I asked her: тАЬDonтАЩt you know anything more about them than that?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo,тАЭ she said weakly, darting another glance at her husbandтАЩs face, while he, paying no attention to her, stared levelly at me. + 

тАЬWhen did they leave?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬEarly this morning,тАЭ Leggett said. тАЬThey were staying at one of the hotelsтБатАФI donтАЩt know whichтБатАФand Gabrielle spent the night with them so they could start early.тАЭ + 

I had enough of the Harpers. I asked: тАЬDid either of youтБатАФany of youтБатАФknow anything about UptonтБатАФhave any dealings with him of any sortтБатАФbefore this affair?тАЭ + 

Leggett said: тАЬNo.тАЭ + 

I had other questions, but the kind of replies I was drawing didnтАЩt mean anything, so I stood up to go. I was tempted to tell him what I thought of him, but there was no profit in that. + 

He got up too, smiling politely, and said: тАЬIтАЩm sorry to have caused the insurance company all this trouble through what was, after all, probably my carelessness. I should like to ask your opinion: do you really think I should accept responsibility for the loss of the diamonds and make it good?тАЭ + 

тАЬThe way it stands,тАЭ I said, тАЬI think you should; but that wouldnтАЩt stop the investigation.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аLeggett put her handkerchief to her mouth quickly. + 

Leggett said: тАЬThanks.тАЭ His voice was casually polite. тАЬIтАЩll have to think it over.тАЭ + 

On my way back to the agency I dropped in on Fitzstephan for half an hour. He was writing, he told me, an article for the Psychopathological ReviewтБатАФthatтАЩs probably wrong, but it was something on that orderтБатАФcondemning the hypothesis of an unconscious or subconscious mind as a snare and a delusion, a pitfall for the unwary and a set of false whiskers for the charlatan, a gap in psychologyтАЩs roof that made it impossible, or nearly, for the sound scholar to smoke out such faddists as, for example, the psychoanalyst and the behaviorist, or words to that effect. He went on like that for ten minutes or more, finally coming back to the United States with: тАЬBut how are you getting along with the problem of the elusive diamonds?тАЭ + 

тАЬThis way and that way,тАЭ I said, and told him what I had learned and done so far. + 

тАЬYouтАЩve certainly,тАЭ he congratulated me when I finished, тАЬgot it all as tangled and confused as possible.тАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩll be worse before itтАЩs better,тАЭ I predicted. тАЬIтАЩd like to have ten minutes alone with Mrs.┬аLeggett. Away from her husband, I imagine things could be done with her. Could you get anything out of her? IтАЩd like to know why Gabrielle has gone, even if I canтАЩt learn where.тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩll try,тАЭ Fitzstephan said willingly. тАЬSuppose I go out there tomorrow afternoonтБатАФto borrow a book. WaiteтАЩs Rosy Cross will do it. They know IтАЩm interested in that sort of stuff. HeтАЩll be working in the laboratory, and IтАЩll refuse to disturb him. IтАЩll have to go at it in an offhand way, but maybe I can get something out of her.тАЭ + 

тАЬThanks,тАЭ I said. тАЬSee you tomorrow night.тАЭ + 

I spent most of the afternoon putting my findings and guesses on paper and trying to fit them together in some sort of order. Eric Collinson phoned twice to ask if I had any news of his Gabrielle. Neither Mickey Linehan nor Al Mason reported anything. At six oтАЩclock I called it a day. + 