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went to a file of records, pulled out a folder, and handed Nancy a sheet of drawing paper.
    “Something like this?” he asked.
    Nancy’s heart gave a leap. On the paper was the sketch of a symbol—the identical crow’s-foot F she had seen on Flip Fay’s ring!
    “That’s exactly like it, Lieutenant Hennessy!” she exclaimed.
    The officer leaned back in his swivel chair, a smile of satisfaction on his face. “You say you think you saw this man here in Boston?”
    Nancy nodded. “Yesterday. Down at the waterfront, near the Bonny Scot. He drove away in a taxi, and I tried to follow in mine, but lost him.”
    “Young lady,” the lieutenant said gravely, “you’ve given us some very important information. This peculiar-looking F is the mark of a dangerous criminal. He’s known to the police as The Crow!”

CHAPTER VI
    Unexpected Visitors
    THE lieutenant said the police had been gathering evidence against The Crow for six months but had not caught up with him.
    “We know the jobs that fellow’s pulled,” the officer said, “because he leaves a crow’s footmark behind. Vain fellow, and a clever jewel thief.”
    “How does he leave it?” Nancy asked.
    “Various ways. Cut into wood. Painted on a wall. I guess he was in too much of a hurry to bother with it at your friend’s house.”
    The officer leaned toward Nancy, his voice deliberate. “If I were you, Miss Drew, I would be wary. Extremely wary. The Crow knows you. You interfered with his work once, and he stopped you. If you get in his way again—” Lieutenant Hennessy shook his head gravely.
    But Nancy was not thinking of her own safety. She was trying to figure out how Fay might be caught.
    “I thought maybe Flip was trying to get away by skipping out of the country,” she ventured. “Maybe that’s why he’s in Boston.”
    “Perhaps you’re right. Thanks to you, Miss Drew, we now know the identity of The Crow. And we have his description. I’ll alert all seagoing craft immediately.”
    Lieutenant Hennessy stood up and shook hands with Nancy. “You’ve helped us tremendously,” he said. “I’ll keep in touch with you.”
    It had been a highly exciting morning, thought Nancy, as she came out of police headquarters. It was now eleven-fifteen and she was to meet the girls at one. Meanwhile, perhaps she could locate the present owner of the Bonny Scot. Captain Easterly had said his name was Farnsworth, but had not given his address.
    Nancy consulted a telephone directory. There were a number of Farnsworths in the area. She got a supply of coins, and made several telephone calls to the surrounding towns. Finally a Mr. Elijah Farnsworth, real-estate broker, said that he was the owner of the old clipper ship. Identify ing herself as Carson Drew’s daughter, Nancy made an appointment at his office.
    The elderly man received her courteously. “I don’t mind saying I’d be proud to do a service for the daughter of a man so highly regarded as your father is by Captain Easterly.”
    Nancy smiled her appreciation. Then she told him of the suspicious events that had taken place on board the Bonny Scot, and of the damage that had been done to the captain’s quarters during his absence.
    The owner of the clipper ship bounded from his chair. “Why, that’s outrageous!” he declared.
    “I’m worried about Captain Easterly,” Nancy said. “He hasn’t been aboard since day before yesterday. Do you suppose he’s being held prisoner somewhere?”
    “What’s that?” the man asked, astounded.
    He declared he would get in touch with the police at once, but Nancy told him this already had been done. She asked Mr. Farnsworth if he had any idea where Captain Easterly might be if he had gone off voluntarily.
    “The captain frequently visits his sister in Marblehead. I’ll phone her.”
    The call revealed that the captain had not been to Marblehead for several weeks. Mr. Farnsworth wrinkled his brow, then suddenly snapped his fingers.
    “I may have a