"What do you know about them? I presume that
Lang is in America, if his partner is abroad."
"Yes, he is here in New York. I believe the firm has a rather
unsavoury reputation; they have to be watched, I am told. Then,
too, one or the other of the partners makes frequent trips abroad,
mostly Pierre. Pierre, as you see, was very intimate with
Mademoiselle, and the letters simply confirm what the girls told
my detective. He was believed to be engaged to her and I see no
reason now to doubt that. The fact is, Kennedy, it wouldn't
surprise me in the least to learn that it was he who engineered
the smuggling for her as well as himself."
"What about the partner? What role does he play in your suspicions?"
"That's another curious feature. Lang doesn't seem to bother much
with the business. He is a sort of silent partner, although
nominally the head of the firm. Still, they both seem always to be
plentifully supplied with money and to have a good trade. Lang
lives most of the time up on the west shore of the Hudson, and seems
to be more interested in his position as commodore of the Riverledge
Yacht Club than in his business down here. He is quite a sport, a
great motor-boat enthusiast, and has lately taken to hydroplanes.
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