I have been taken real sick, threatened with nervous prostration they
say. I have had to go to Dr. ----'s sanatorium at Amityville. Don't
know how long I'll be here. Now Mrs. Bradford, I'm in a fix because
I've lost my keys. I keep duplicates in my safe, and so I'm sending my
nephew to you with this to get them. He has wavy, blond hair and blue
eyes, and nice white teeth. He slurs his rs a little when he talks
like a child. So he will call you Mrs. B'adfo'd. These details will
identify him to you.
Please let him into my room with your pass-key, and remain with him
while he is there. Not but what he is a good boy, but boys will be
boys you know. Don't let him see this. I have given him the
combination of my safe. Inside is an old handbag with fifty dollars in
it and a bunch of keys. He will give you thirty dollars of it for the
rent, and ten for your trouble. Nothing else in the safe must be
touched. Thanking you for your trouble,
Yours sincerely,
(Mrs.) ELIZABETH WATKINS.
P.S. I hope your rheumatism is better.
I made copies of the letters and the safe combination, and told Blondy
to go ahead and do exactly as he had been told. I suspected from
Lorina's care that the little safe would make interesting disclosures.
However, I could get into it some other time. I was inclined to
believe her story about the safety deposit box. Like all first-class
liars she wove truth into her lies when she could. I was hoping, while
scarcely daring to hope, that in a matter of such vital importance she
would not dare trust any one short of the "boss" himself. If he would
only come after the keys!
Next day I got the following letter from Blondy.