"I'll be—searching, too," said Bonbright. Mershon came in. "Here's a letter—" he began.
Bonbright shook his head. "Attend to it—whatever it is. I'm going out.
I don't know when I shall be back…. You have full authority. …"
He all but rushed from the room, and Mershon stared after him in amazement. Bonbright did not know where he was going, what he was going to do. There was no plan, but his need was action. He must be doing something, searching…. But as he got into his machine he recognized the futility of aimlessness. There was a way of going about such things…. He must be calm. He must enlist aid.
Suddenly he thought of Hilda Lightener. He had not seen her for weeks.
She had been close to Ruth; perhaps she knew something. He drove to the
Lightener residence and asked for her. Hilda was at home.
"She's LOST," said Bonbright, as Hilda came into the room.
"What? Who are you talking about?"
"'Ruth…. She's not with Dulac. He doesn't know where she is; she was never with him."
"Did you think she was?" Hilda said, accusingly. "You—you're so—Oh, the pair of you!"
"Do you know where she is?"
"I haven't seen nor heard of her since the day—your father died."