The looker-on #984701

"And what about the girl?"
"It's a most mysterious affair—a complete mystery!" I answered.
"And I suppose you'll keep it so for a couple of days longer, eh?"
"Of course. I've worked it up for all it's worth in to-night's 'special.' Seen it?"
"Yes. A first-class story. What's the real truth?"
"Mystery—with a capital M, my dear fellow. Even Whitlock, at Scotland Yard, is utterly in the dark."
"He tells you so."
"He is. He and I are pals. He often tells me the truth first, and then tells me the picturesque lie for the paper."
"You're frank, Keene, if nothing else."
"Frank! Well, it's the truth," I declared, lighting a fresh cigarette. "You recollect the Pimlico mystery? Well, Whitlock told me the truth from the first, but we kept up the sensation for four days—until the arrest."