“Then you think Reeves has been murdered?”

“Don’t you?” she asked quickly.

Cole smiled. Instead of answering the question he asked another. “How can you be so sure that Carmody will not leave his house to-night?”

“Because he has the best of reasons for staying in.”

“What are they?”

“One is that his engagement for to-night was canceled by telephone at four o’clock this afternoon.”

Cole gave her a puzzled stare. “How do you know that?”

She laughed a little. “There are ways of finding out,” she said mysteriously. “Tapped wires, for instance. But the professor’s principal reason for staying in to-night is that he is well aware that you are watching him. You see, Mr. Cole, he has more shrewdness than you have been giving him credit for. And the fact that he is staying in on your account shows that he has great respect for your ability.”

She had raised her head a trifle, and Cole gave her a long, bewildered glance. He half expected to see a smile on her lips, but her face was grave.

“Are you one of Reeves’ relatives?” he asked abruptly.

“Oh, no!”

“Then how——”

“I have certain sources of information. Sources so vast that you would be staggered if I were to tell you of them. Please don’t look at me like that. I am not insane, neither am I subject to hallucinations. The fact that I happen to know more about the Carmody case than you do is no reflection on your ability as an investigator. It merely shows that your equipment is inadequate. Care to hear more?”

“What else do you know?”

“I know that the case you are working on is only one minor angle of a vast mystery. The disappearance of Malcolm Reeves is nothing but an incident. Reeves himself was only an insignificant puppet in one of the greatest games ever played. All you have seen so far is one of the minor threads in the woof. I am always mixing my metaphors, but I know you won’t mind. Mr. Cole, this affair has ramifications that may some day rock the whole continent.”

“I feel considerably shaken up already,” admitted Cole. “You realize, of course, that you are using strong words?”

“No stronger than the situation demands.”

“If it is as bad as all that why doesn’t somebody put a stop to it?”

“Because——” She checked herself and regarded him intently. “Well, because the man who is big enough for the task has not yet been found.”

Again Cole cast a glance at the window. The car had made several turns in the last few minutes. He caught only a blurred view of his surroundings, but he thought they were traversing one of the cavernlike streets near the southern tip of Manhattan Island.

“Have you heard enough?” she asked.

“Just enough to give me an appetite for more.”

“In that case you must trust me implicitly and obey me without questions. I am taking desperate chances in confiding in you, Mr. Cole, and certain precautions are absolutely necessary. Will you promise me on your honor that you will not try to ascertain the location of the place I shall take you to?”

Cole considered. There was a flavor of mystery about the adventure that appealed to him, but the prospect of learning something more about the Carmody case was an even greater temptation. From what little the woman had so far told him he surmised that she must have unusual sources of information. Much that she had said coincided with what he already knew, so he had no cause to doubt her truthfulness.

“You have my promise,” he told her.

The car made another turn, swung down a dark block, then veered again to the south. Cole caught a hazy glimpse of dark, towering skyscrapers.

The woman looked at him fixedly, as if in doubt. “I believe you are a man of your word, Mr. Cole, but promises are sometimes broken in spite of the best intentions. Please don’t be offended.”

She produced a scarf and with a deft touch covered his eyes, securing the bandage with a firm knot at the back. Cole chuckled amusedly. He might be walking into a trap, but it would not be the first time, and he had great confidence in his ability to take care of himself in any situation that might come up.

After continuing its zigzagging course a few minutes longer the car stopped. His mysterious conductress touched his arm as they stepped out. She guided him across the sidewalk and up a few stone steps, and then they traversed what appeared to be a long corridor. Finally Cole found himself in a narrow inclosure which he guessed to be an elevator.

“We are in one of the tallest office buildings in New York,” the woman whispered in his ear, “but you’re not likely to guess its name.”

The door clanked shut, and the cage shot swiftly upward. Cole felt a rush of wind in his ears. He maintained a languid composure, but inwardly he marveled. A modern skyscraper was the last place he would have expected the woman to take him to. He tried to estimate the number of floors they were passing. Five, ten, fifteen, twenty——

Still the cage darted upward, and then it stopped so suddenly that he caught his breath sharply. They stepped out, and the girl removed the scarf from his eyes. He gazed around him bewilderedly. All about him, with the exception of a single elevator shaft was a vast expanse of blank wall. There was no sign of doors or windows, and the only illumination was a small electric bulb in the ceiling.

“We came up in a private elevator,” the woman explained. “This is the top floor. To the public at large and to most of the tenants of the building it practically does not exist. This way, Mr. Cole.”

She stepped to one of the corners of the triangular space, of which the elevator shaft formed the center, and Cole followed. In the dim light he could not see exactly what happened, but the woman’s hand went out and then a narrow portion of the wall slid back. They stepped through an aperture, and instantly the opening closed behind them. They were in a long corridor with doors on each side.

“Surprised?” she asked, starting to lead him down the hall.

“Rather. Never expected to find such mysterious contrivances in a modern office building.”

Her only reply was a low laugh. The floor of the corridor was luxuriously carpeted; the doors on either side had a solid appearance. Cole’s amazement grew. He wondered what was beyond the massive doors and what was the nature of this establishment that was hidden behind blank walls. He had little time for speculation, for his companion opened a door and bade him enter.

“Excuse me, Mr. Cole,” she murmured when she had switched on the light. “I shall be back directly.”

The door closed, and she was gone. Alone, Cole looked about him, and his eyes opened wide in astonishment.