Once inside the cab, Bob sat back to take stock of the damage which the thorns of the barberry had done to his hands. There were half a dozen raw angry scratches and innumerable little snags in his suit from the prickly stuff.
When he thought of what had happened in the last few minutes, Bob frankly admitted that he was at a loss to account for it. Why should he be singled out for an attack by a couple of hoodlums? Why should someone attempt to enter his room in the night? Perhaps his uncle would have the key to answers when he met him.
The cab pulled up in front of the Department of Justice building and Bob paid the driver and stepped out. Several pedestrians going by looked at him curiously and he realized that he looked strangely unkempt.
Bob stepped inside the building. His hands were smarting and he took out two clean handkerchiefs and wrapped them around his hands. There was still a little time before his appointment and he turned around and went to a nearby drug store where he explained that his hands had been scratched by barberry. A clerk recommended an antiseptic solution and Bob washed his hands thoroughly in this and then wrapped the handkerchiefs around them again.
Back in the Department of Justice building, Bob was whisked to an upper floor and a boy guided him to the room he inquired for. There was no name on the glass panel of the doorway and Bob stepped inside, wondering just what kind of a reception he was going to have. There was no one in the room when he entered and he sat down in a chair near a window to wait.
The door opened again and Tully Ross stepped in and stared at Bob. The surprise was mutual.
“I didn’t expect to find you here,” exclaimed Tully, and there was no pleasure in his words.
“Guess that goes for me, too,” replied Bob.
Tully took a chair a few feet from Bob and conversation ended right then and there. For at least ten minutes no word was spoken until an inner door opened and Merritt Hughes entered.
“Hello, Bob. Hello, Tully. You’re right on time. Mr. Edgar will be here in a few minutes.”