world she was as important a figure as was the district attorney in
his. Her allies were the man "higher up " in Tammany and the police
of the upper ranks of the uniformed force. And of the higher office
of the district attorney she possessed an intimate and respectful
knowledge. It was not to be considered that against the prosecuting
attorney such a woman would wage war. So the thought that upon his
person any assault was meditated Wharton dismissed as
unintelligent. That it was upon his reputation the attack was
planned seemed much more probable. But that contingency he had
foreseen and so, he believed, forestalled. There then remained only
the possibility that the offer in the letter was genuine. It seemed
quite too good to be true. For, as he asked himself, on the very
eve of an election, why should Tammany, or a friend of Tammany,
place in his possession the information that to the Tammany
candidate would bring inevitable defeat. He felt that the way they
were playing into his hands was too open, too generous. If their
object was to lead him into a trap, of all baits they might use the
promise to tell him who killed Banf was the one certain to attract
him. It made their invitation to walk into the parlor almost too
obvious. But were the offer not genuine, there was a condition
attached to it that puzzled him. It was not the condition that
stipulated he should come alone. His experience had taught him many
will confess, or betray, to the district attorney who, to a deputy,
will tell nothing. The condition that puzzled him was the one that
insisted he should come at once or it would be "too late."

Why was haste so imperative? Why, if he delayed, would he be "too
late"? Was the man he sought about to escape from his jurisdiction,
was he dying, and was it his wish to make a death-bed confession;
or was he so reluctant to speak that delay might cause him to