"Done it already, sir. Thought you'd want it. Only one person I haven't had my eye on."
"Who?"
"Janet Mackay, sir. She went to town immediately after dinner to a movie."
"Janet Mackay! There is only one motion-picture theater?"
"Yes, sir."
"Go there at once. Check up on her. She's a regular patron—the ticket-girl should be able to tell you if she's been there. When you come back, signal to me, yes or no. Understand? Beat it!"
When Krech came down again he found Creighton sitting on the veranda, smoking a cigar and apparently more in the mood to think than to talk. It was nearly ten o'clock when a step sounded on the porch and Merrill sauntered into view.
"Pardon!" he said promptly, and vanished again.
But he had obeyed his instructions and sent Creighton a sign that started the detective's heart to thumping. Janet Mackay had not been to the theater. Here was a coil with collateral complications that were not pleasant to contemplate. His heart stopped thumping and made a dive for his boots as he wondered what Miss Ocky would say when she learned of his interest in Janet.
"I'm going to New York on the midnight," he said abruptly. "Will you run me to the station on your way home?"