“I’ll let you have the key,” returned Hastings, taking one from a ring. “I’ll join you as soon as I can get away.”
“Just what I wanted,” commented Kennedy, as we left the lawyer and hurried down to the dining-room for the few remaining minutes before the hotel ’bus left for the station. “Besides, I wanted to get there when no one was around, so that I could have a chance to look at that confounded detectaphone again. Whoever it was who installed it was clever.”
“Might not that be the purpose of Paquita’s trip to New York?” I queried.
“I was thinking of that. Between us, Riley and ourselves ought to be able to find that out.”
There was just time for a hasty bite of breakfast and we went into the dining-room, where Burke was evidently looking for us, for he came over and sat down. No one else was about and he felt free to talk.
“If you’re going,” he decided, after telling us of Riley’s report to him also of Paquita, “I think I had better stay. We ought not to let any of them remain here unobserved—not after last night,” he added.
“Quite right,” agreed Kennedy. “Have you heard anything more about the attack on Winifred?”
Burke negatived. He was still sore at Sanchez, who seemed to have come out of the affair with credit. I fancied that if ever the sallow-faced man ran afoul of Burke it would go hard with him.
“I didn’t get that business straight last night,” mused the detective. “Why should any one have wanted to kidnap Winifred? It couldn’t have been to hurt her—for there was plenty of opportunity to do that. It must have been to hold her somewhere and force some one to do something. What do you think of that, Kennedy?”
“Your reasoning is very logical,” agreed Craig.