The old man had gone to the table and was pushing the newspapers to one side.

“Now where did I put it?” he muttered. “I had it a moment ago.

Ken shoved the notebook in his hip pocket. He looked across at a Packard, standing near the gates.

“My number’s TXL 3345,” he said, reading off the Packard’s number plate.

“I had that darned book a moment ago. Did you see it, mister?”

“No. I’ve got to be moving.” Ken offered the old man a half-dollar. “So long.”

“Thanks, mister. What was that number again?”

Ken repeated the number and watched the old man scribble it down on the edge of a newspaper.

“I’m always losing things.”

“So long,” Ken said, and walked quickly across the lot to his car.