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Phantom Fingers
been written, some one in the office decided, by one of the cranks who writes anonymous letters to the newspapers, for he had retained even the usual signatures of the anonymous newspaper letter writers.
On the third day, the day of the dress rehearsal, they received another warning—or rather Augustin Arnold, the star, received it. It was obviously from the same source, being on the same kind of paper and in the same typewriting. He did not know about the two previous letters, and would have paid no attention to it, for a well-known star receives many anonymous communications, but he happened to mention the matter, quite casually, to Ike Humbert, and as Ike was in possession of the other two letters, he naturally put two and one together and got no answer. The note this time read:
Do not play in “The Leopard’s Spots” tomorrow night if you wish to continue in the land of the living. This is a serious warning, and it will be fatal to you to disregard it.
A Well-Wisher.
This is where I came into the thing. I am on the force. There is a little more to it, but let that come later. Let it be enough to say that, having a little more money than is quite good for me, I decided that the detective force of a large city was a good place to satisfy my lust for excitement and change, and that,
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