What did it mean?
Did it mean anything?
Had it any possible connection with the case in which he was interested?
There was no signature, nothing to guide him; yet in some way the plea sounded real, was a cry of distress, an appeal for help.

It could be given no other meaning, yet how long had it been lying there in the alley?
Not any great length of time surely, for the polished silver was far too conspicuous to escape notice.

It must have been dropped during the night, within a very short time of its discovery.

But what did the words signify?
"_Notify police_" was clear enough, but "_search Seminole_" meant absolutely nothing.

What was "Seminole"-- an apartment house?
A hotel?
A saloon?
Perhaps the police would know; evidently the writer so believed, or she would never have used the name with such confidence.