“Wouldn’t he talk?”
“He talked but he didn’t say anything. I tried the stewardess and also Carl Hunter but both of them had received instructions from the general manager of the line in Chicago to extend this man every courtesy and do as he directed. The stewardess had him down as ‘Mr. Seven’ because he occupied chair seven coming out. When I tackled him about that he said that ‘Mr. Seven’ was a good enough name. I couldn’t make a dent in him. He’s smooth as silk and as hard as steel.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I don’t know exactly. I’ll try to keep tab on him at the Ransom House where he is staying but with this flying circus coming to town I won’t have much extra time. I’m going to dig into the files and see what I can find there. I’m positive I’ve seen his picture in the last year.”
“I‘ll trail along over to the hotel with you if you’d like. Maybe I could identify him. I’ve got one of those card index memories.”
“I thought maybe you’d help me out, Dan. We’ll have a try at it after supper. I’ll meet you at the Ransom House.”
Tim and Ralph had dinner together down town and Tim told of his meeting the mysterious “Mr. Seven.”
“Sounds like a story to me,” chuckled Ralph, “and I’ll be way wrong if you don’t dig it out. Guess I’ll invite myself in on the party tonight and trail over to the Ransom House with you.”
“Glad to have you. Maybe you’ll be able to identify my mysterious stranger.”
They discussed plans for the flying circus and after leaving the restaurant proceeded to the city’s leading hotel. Dan Watkins was waiting for them in the lobby.