Kennedy did not tell the Willards of the new letter. The strain had
begun to tell on Alma, and her father had had her quietly taken to
a farm of his up in the country. To escape the curious eyes of
reporters, Halsey Post had driven up one night in his closed car. She
had entered it quickly with her father, and the journey had been made
in the car, while Halsey Post had quietly dropped oft on the outskirts
of the town, where another car was waiting to take him back. It was
evident that the Willard family relied implicitly on Halsey, and his
assistance to them was most considerate. While he never forced himself
forward, he kept in close touch with the progress of the case, and now
that Alma was away his watchfulness increased proportionately, and
twice a day he wrote a long report which was sent to her.

Kennedy was now bending every effort to locate the missing artist.
When he left Danbridge, he seemed to have dropped out of sight
completely. However, with O'Connor's aid, the police of all New
England were on the lookout.

The Thurstons had been friends of Halsey's before Vera Lytton had ever
met Dr. Dixon, we discovered from the Danbridge gossips, and I, at
least, jumped to the conclusion that Halsey was shielding the artist,
perhaps through a sense of friendship when he found that Kennedy was
interested in Thurston's movement. I must say I rather liked Halsey,
for he seemed very thoughtful of the Willards, and was never too
busy to give an hour or so to any commission they wished carried out
without publicity.

Two days passed with not a word from Thurston. Kennedy was obviously
getting impatient. One day a rumor was received that he was in Bar