“That describes the accident to Anderson,” broke in Jim.
“Yes, and don’t you remember how near they came to running into us just before that?” added Joe. “But did you get any clue as to who the fellows were?”
“I didn’t hear any full names,” replied Reggie, “but several times the man who was telling the story referred to the reckless driving of ‘old Beck,’ whoever that might have been.”
“Beck, Beck,” mused Jim. “That isn’t much of a hint. The directory is full of Becks.”
“Fleming’s first name is Beckworth, isn’t it?” he asked Reggie.
“And wouldn’t it be natural for his cronies to speak of him as Beck?” Joe went on.
“Sure,” said Reggie. “As a matter of fact, I’ve often heard them refer to him in that way.”
“And he’s known as a reckless driver, isn’t he?” asked Joe, going back in memory to the way in which Fleming had handled the car on that memorable afternoon when he had rescued Mabel from his clutches.
“Yes,” Reggie responded. “In fact, he seems to take a sort of pride in it. I’ve often heard him tell how often he had been arrested for speeding.”
“It begins to look as though he might have been mixed up in that Anderson affair,” mused Jim.
“Yes, but that’s a mighty slender basis to go on,” answered Joe. “Of course he’d deny it, and we couldn’t prove it if we had nothing to back it up with.”
“By Jove!” exclaimed Reggie. “Now that you come to speak of it, I remember catching sight of Fleming at the Long Beach Hotel when we were dining there. He was sitting at a table in the further corner of the room. I thought of going over to speak to him, but I noticed that he was with a pretty noisy party, and as the girls were with us I passed it up.”
“Well, now, that’s something more like proof!” exclaimed Joe, with animation. “That brings him near the scene of the accident on the day it happened. He’s a reckless driver and his pals often spoke of him as ‘old Beck.’ I believe he was the fellow that knocked the old man down.”
“It looks like it,” agreed Jim, “and from what we’ve learned of the fellow since, I think he’s just the kind that would go on without trying to help or stopping to see what he had done. But even now we haven’t anything that would convince a jury.”
“No,” agreed Reggie. “Moral proof isn’t legal proof by a long shot. The one thing we need to clinch the matter is the number of the car that held the party.”