The Leopard's Spots by Fred M. White — Read

Montagu Stagg, bland, smiling, prosperous looking, and apparently at peace with all the world, made his way from the house and walked along the streets with a more or less idle intention of calling on Everard Stokes. He had not seen the astute proprietor of the 'Searchlight' for some days now, and it occurred to him that it would be just as well to call at Porchester Place and assure Stokes that he had not forgotten the pressing matter of the widow and her little savings. There was not the slightest prospect at present of Stagg being able to do anything towards restoring the money which the lady in question had invested under the guidance of 'Frank Fair, ' but it would be just as well, at any rate, to look Stokes up even if it was only an earnest of the fact that the business in question was not being ignored, He trusted to his own blandishments and ready tact to gain a further extension of time.

He walked along the sunny streets, careless and free, beautifully dressed and perfectly appointed like a man of leisure who has a long and prosperous day before him. And as he smoked a contemplative cigarette, he was thinking over the amazing incidents of the morning. Every step he took, and every yard he went carried him further into the heart of a mystery which he found not only amazingly fascinating, but capable, in his skilled hands, of being turned to considerable pecuniary advantage. Indeed, the interlocking events were something almost staggering.