With that, Phil started to the lobby to seek Arlene, but he couldn’t subdue the belief that he wasn’t going to find her. The lobby was large and by Phil’s calculations, Arlene would have had to do some fast footwork to reach the street door before he saw her. Still, she wasn’t in sight, which was just what Phil expected.
An elevator was standing open; the dials of the others showed them around the higher floors. The only stairway, a rather grand affair, was as distant as the street door. That left only the restaurant as the one place near enough for Arlene to reach. But when Phil reached the entrance to the cafe and surveyed its expanse of tables, he still couldn’t locate the missing blonde.
The cafe was only about half-filled and spotting Arlene should have been easy, provided she was there, although the place had some pillars that partly obscured Phil’s view. More puzzled than ever, Phil turned toward the lobby again and stared right at a girl who met him with a smile.
The newcomer wasn’t Arlene. To even presume that she might he would mark the transformation as the fastest and most convincing quick-change on record. This girl was a brunette, with sleek, black hair, a complexion that was clear, yet in a sense darkish because of its slight olive tint. Her dark eyes seemed wondering and gave the same effect to her smile, yet with it there was something strangely exotic in the brunette’s demeanor.
Those dark eyes fixed on the tiny bit of lilac that embellished Phil’s lapel. The girl inquired:
“You are Mr. Phil Harley?”
That was what she said, but it didn’t sound the way it spelled. There was something musical about the girl’s accent that made the words sound better when she mispronounced them. Staring hard, to make sure this girl wouldn’t vanish, too, Phil acknowledged his identity with a nod.
“Very good,” the brunette declared. “I was told to meet you here. We are to have dinner together. Shall we?”
Blonde or brunette, name or no name, Phil Harley decided that it made no difference, provided there were no more vanishes. At least from this girl, he might learn something of the situation as it concerned Arlene Forster.
Phil Harley felt he was on the verge of a mystery. He was wrong. He was right in the middle of one!