There was no longer any possibility of
dodging the most logical suspicions, namely, that Mr. Stanlock was the
victim of a decoy plotted by some criminal element working with or
under the shadow of the coal miners' strike.
And so the relief from this dread suspense was very great when he
drove up to the house and walked in, smiling as if nothing unusual had
happened. Marion fairly flew into her father's arms as if she had not
seen him for sixteen months.
"Papa!" she cried almost hysterically; "where have you been? We've
been telephoning all over the city, and the police have been searching
for you for nearly two hours. Why didn't you call us up and let us
know you were going to be late?"
"I was intending to call you, my dear," replied Mr. Stanlock, as he
greeted her and the other members of the family with a rapid
succession of hugs and kisses, indicating, in spite of his attempts to
appear composed, that he had returned home not under the most ordinary
circumstances.
"Why didn't you?" Marion insisted. "Do you know what a state of mind
you had us in during the last two or three hours?"
"I delayed calling you because I wanted to find out how late I was
going to be," Mr.
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