"Now, Riggs," began Mr. Jamieson kindly. "You are to say what
you have to say before this lady."
"You promised you'd keep it quiet, Mr. Jamieson." Riggs plainly
did not trust me. There was nothing friendly in the glance he
turned on me.
"Yes, yes. You will be protected. But, first of all, did you
bring what you promised?"
Riggs produced a roll of papers from under his coat, and handed
them over. Mr. Jamieson examined them with lively satisfaction,
and passed them to me. "The blue-prints of Sunnyside," he said.
"What did I tell you? Now, Riggs, we are ready."
"I'd never have come to you, Mr. Jamieson," he began, "if it
hadn't been for Miss Armstrong. When Mr. Innes was spirited
away, like, and Miss Louise got sick because of it, I
thought things had gone far enough. I'd done some things for the
doctor before that wouldn't just bear looking into, but I turned
a bit squeamish."
"Did you help with that?" I asked, leaning forward.
"No, ma'm. I didn't even know of it until the next day, when it
came out in the Casanova Weekly Ledger. But I know who did it,
all right. I'd better start at the beginning.
"When Doctor Walker went away to California with the Armstrong
family, there was talk in the town that when he came back he
would be married to Miss Armstrong, and we all expected it.
First thing I knew, I got a letter from him, in the west. He
seemed to be excited, and he said Miss Armstrong had taken a
sudden notion to go home and he sent me some money.
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