Circle City enters the narrative as the reported destination of Tex John Smith and his son, not as a directly visited or described place. After learning in Reno that Tex had left Nevada, Harold Nye is told at a post office that Tex’s mail is being forwarded to the vicinity of Circle City, Alaska. The lead redirects the search across a great distance while leaving its destination uncertain.

A Lead Beyond Nevada

The post-office clerk tells Harold Nye that Tex left Nevada the previous August and that his mail is now forwarded to the Circle City area. The information is practical but indirect: it points Nye toward where Tex may be while confirming that the elder Smith is no longer at his former address. Circle City thus marks a sharp turn in the investigation, from local inquiries in Reno toward an elusive trail in Alaska.

Tex Smith’s Reported Connection

The clerk describes Tex as a regular visitor who sometimes disappeared for a month, claiming to have gone prospecting. He says Tex called himself the Lone Wolf, wore Western clothes, and had told him he used to be with a rodeo. The clerk had heard that Tex was an old Alaska hand and might once have owned a hotel or hunting lodge there; these details make the Alaskan lead plausible, though they remain secondhand recollections rather than verified facts about Circle City itself.

The clerk also recounts that Tex’s son came to the post-office window the previous August looking for his father. The next morning Tex returned and confirmed that the young man was his son, recently discharged from the Army, and that the two planned to go to Alaska. Tex expected to be away for about two years. The clerk says he had seen neither father nor son since, leaving Circle City as the vicinity associated with their intended journey but not a confirmed meeting place or final whereabouts.