Shayne nodded, his gaunt face hardening a little. He looked past the bonneted mother, out through open windows of his fourth-floor office in the International Building to the soft blue of the horizon. His eyes narrowed a little and a muscle jumped in the left side of his lean jaw. He said, “I’ll check with El Paso, Mrs. Delray. If they haven’t succeeded in locating the dead soldier’s parents in Cleveland, I’ll take the case.”

“Will you, Mr. Shayne? Like I said at first, I haven’t got much money to spend-”

Shayne’s outflung hand silenced her. “Didn’t Captain Denton tell you I could be had cheaply?” He lifted his voice to call, Lucy. She appeared in the doorway almost immediately.

“Get Chief of Police Dyer in El Paso, Texas, on the phone,” Shayne directed her. “If you can’t reach Dyer, try to get Captain Gerlach.” Lucy nodded and went back into the reception room.

“I know it’s my Jimmie,” Mrs. Delray said again with complete conviction. “I just sort of feel it like, Mr. Shayne. And it’s got something to do with those spies that talked him into enlisting under a false name. Jimmie wasn’t any coward and they must have seen he wouldn’t help them out.”

Shayne nodded absently. He got up and walked across to the double windows. It was warm and quiet in the office. Through the open door into the reception room came the murmur of Lucy Hamilton’s voice as she put through his long-distance call.

Shayne thrust both big hands deep into his pockets and scowled savagely out at New Orleans’ skyline. He had one of those crazy hunches that hit him like a ton of bricks sometimes. It was a feeling he couldn’t put his finger on, but one that he had long ago learned could not be disregarded. He stiffened and wheeled about when his secretary called, “I have Chief Dyer on the line, Mr. Shayne.”

He strode past Mrs. Delray to pick up a telephone on his desk. “Hello. Dyer? Mike Shayne speaking. That’s right, it has been a hell of a long time. I’m checking on the traffic death of a soldier in El Paso yesterday. Private James Brown. Has the army been able to locate his parents in Cleveland?”