Was it not entirely
possible that the man who married Nita in 1918 had done so half-drunk,
both on liquor and infatuation, and that he had not troubled to explain
to Nita his motives for having used an assumed name or to write in his
real name on the application for a marriage license? Had Nita's private
detective journeyed out to _Hamilton_ years ago in a fruitless attempt
to locate "Matthew Selim?"
Bonnie Dundee lay awake for hours Friday night turning these and a
hundred other questions over and over in his too-active mind, and slept
at last, only to awake Saturday with a plan of procedure which he was
sensible enough to realize promised small chance of success.
And he was right. Not in Manhattan, or in any of the other boroughs of
New York City, did he find any record of a marriage license issued to
Juanita Leigh and Matthew Selim. Not only was it entirely probable that
Juanita Leigh was a stage name and that Nita had married conscientiously
under her real name, but it was equally possible that the license had
been secured in New Jersey or Connecticut.
When he gave up his quest at noon Saturday and returned to his hotel,
Dundee bought at the newsstand a paper whose headline convinced him that
Sergeant Turner was, at that moment, even more discouraged than himself.
Pages:
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349