"He had applied for them."
"When did he disappear?"
"I haven't seen him for two nights," she sobbed.
It flashed over me that it was now two nights since the fire that had burned Rovigno's house, although there was no reason for connecting the events, at least yet.
The young woman was plainly wild with anxiety. "Oh, can't you help me find Nikola?" she pleaded.
"I'll try my best," reassured Kennedy, taking down on a card her address and bowing her out.
It was late in the afternoon before we had an opportunity to call at the Gaskell town house where the Rovignos were staying. The Count was not at home, but the Countess welcomed us and led us directly into a large library.
"I'd like to have you meet my father," she introduced. "Father, this is Professor Kennedy, whom Alex and I have engaged to look into the burning of our house."
Old Roger Gaskell received us, I thought, with a curious mixture of restraint and eagerness.
"I hope you'll excuse me?" asked the Countess a moment later. "I really must dress for dinner. But I think I've told you all I can. I wanted you to talk to my father."