My aunt, the Healer and I driving through deserted streets. How long was it since I had been away from Bettina?
"Oh, not long," they said. And the police beyond a doubt had turned the time to good account.
I had a vision of the Betty I should find at Alton Street. Fainting, ministered to by men, reverent of her youth and terror....
A grimy room with a counter running down its length. No sign of Betty; only men in uniform grouped in twos and threes behind the counter.
They listened. Yes, my aunt's messenger "had been in." They shook their heads.
The Healer did most of the talking.
A man with a sallow face put a question now and then. He was the inspector.
Although there were only policemen there besides ourselves, the inspector talked quite low, as though he was afraid someone might come to know a girl was lost.
"I can't hear what you are saying!" I said. "She is my sister. You must tell me what you are doing to find her."