He had about decided on the most direct course--to rush up the steps, ring the bell, ask for her, tell her that he had come to give her the note and trust to subsequent events--when the front door of the house he was watching flew open. A hatless man bounded down to the sidewalk; straight as though following a surveyed line, headed for the entrance of the Arsenal.
Pape stepped back and waited until the heavy on-comer was about to enter the park, then sprang out and blocked the way.
"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.
From surprise or alarm the man backed a step or two. "To--to the police station," he answered nervously.
"Why didn't you telephone? that would have been quicker. You seem in a hell of a hurry."
"Who are you anyway?" Pape's demand was uttered with a note of authority.
"I am Jasper--the Sturgis' butler. Mrs. Sturgis has sent me to bring a detective."
With a short laugh Pape approved the born butler's habit of subordination. "You're in luck, Jasper. I'm the very man you're looking for. Lead me to the case."
His location--he well might have been coming from the Central Park station house--favored him. The Arsenal could be seen a few yards within the wall. Although he had no shield to show, nor named himself a sergeant of the Force, the butler seemed satisfied with the assertion and his own misconclusions. Dutifully, he led the way back to the house which he had quitted in such a hurry.
"This rushing about gets me in the wind, sir," complained Jasper _en route_. "I fear I am growing a bit weighty. And what a comfort is the telephone. Things like that, sir, you never miss until they're gone. Ah, sir, excitement like this is bad for the heart."
Opening the door with a latch key, he conducted his find across the reception hall, up a broad flight of stairs and into a formally furnished drawing-room. From between wide doors, half opened into a room beyond, appeared a woman of medium height, whose looks made unnecessary any introduction as Irene's mother. If her mauve crape dress revealed rather too distinctly her plump outlines, it softened the middle-aged beauty of her face and toned with the magnificent grayish pearls she wore.
"Is this the detective, Jasper?" she asked, but did not await an answer. "I'll ring when I want you again."