The Case and the Girl - Page 84/149

He drew the article forth curiously, and looked at it under the glow of the electric light--it was a small silver handled pen-knife, such as a lady might carry, a rather strange thing to be discovered in a dirt alley back of Wray Street. The incongruity struck him forcibly, and he sat up, wide awake once more, seeking for some mark of identification on the polished handle. There was none, not an inscription of any kind, but he noted that the single slender blade did not fit closely down into its place. He opened it idly to learn the cause--beneath appeared the white gleam of tightly folded paper.