We had all come up with Kennedy now, the car stopping on the road with its lights playing full on the group.
Slowly now Winifred, who had fainted, revived. As she opened her eyes she seemed in a daze. Beyond what we already knew of her exciting adventure, she could tell nothing. Sanchez offered to drive her back to the hotel.
It was the first time he had spoken, and I wondered what Burke, fire-eater that he was, would do.
For a moment he hesitated, then strode up to the sallow-faced man deliberately.
“This thing has gone too far,” he ground out. “Has all this been staged so that you could play the hero?”
Sanchez flared. For a moment I thought that there would be a fight. But he seemed to consider.
With a shrug, he replied, quietly, “I am at your service, if I can be of assistance to the young lady.”
The man was baffling. There was nothing for Burke to do but to hide his exasperation and take advantage of the offer.
To me, the sudden appearance of Sanchez was most mystifying. Had he in reality been on his way to overtake his own agent, when he had, fortunately for himself, overtaken us? Or were we all wrong and was Sanchez innocent? No one said a word as we made our quick return to the hotel.
Winifred was, by this time, herself and able to return to her room, which was now guarded from below. Neither she nor any of the rest of us could offer an explanation of the sudden attack or its purpose.