Mifflin looked startled. ‘Then where the hell’s Dedrick?’
‘That’s what I want to know. I have an idea Barratt could tell us. There’s a new character on the scene who knows as much about it as Barratt: a tall broad-shouldered fella who wears a fawn suit and a white felt hat’
‘We’re looking for him. So it was you who phoned in that tip?’
‘Yeah; I had a job to do, otherwise I would have hung around. Did you get the clue in the refuse bin?’
‘He stayed the night there, huh?’
‘Must have done.’
‘Well, we’re looking for him. What makes you think Marshland’s hooked up with the kidnapping?’
I told him what I had found out at the Beach Hotel.
‘According to Mrs. Dedrick, he’s skipped to Europe, but I don’t believe it.’
‘Maybe I’d better go up there and see if I can talk to him,’ Mifflin said.