WHEN Cranston appeared on the porch, Waddell indulged in a brief laugh.
“You have a competitor, Parker,” he remarked. “Cranston is using my home for a telephone booth, too.”
“My office has been bothering me all day,” explained Noyes, turning to Cranston. “Mr.Waddell seems to have been amused by it. However, I do not think I shall be annoyed further. The office is closed now, and there is no reason why I should receive calls. Unfortunately, I must go in to the city early in the evening, as I expect a visitor at my apartment around nine o’clock.”
“That saves me from an embarrassing situation,” returned Cranston, “I was just wondering how I could manage to get away shortly after eight, as I must be at the club, not long after nine. I am sorry that I have to leave early, also. However, it will give me the privilege of taking you in to the city with me.”
“I shall be delighted to accompany you,” said Noyes. “You may regard the invitation as accepted.”
The three men went to dinner shortly afterward; They dined alone, as Betty Waddell was absent. It developed she was in New York with a group of friends, and that she was going to the theater, escorted by David Tholbin. This explanation, by Tobias Waddell, was the beginning of a new tirade of deprecating remarks directed against Tholbin.
Shortly after eight o’clock, Parker Noyes remarked that it was about time for him to leave. Cranston’s car was summoned, and the two men started for New York. They arrived at the lawyer’s apartment house well before nine, and Cranston accepted an invitation to come up to the apartment.
They entered a room which Noyes called his office. It lived up to that name. The room was equipped with desks and typewriter, while large bookcases were filled with long rows of buckram-bound legal volumes.
Lamont Cranston, leisurely in manner, did not seem greatly impressed by this home workshop. Parker Noyes smiled indulgently, classing Lamont Cranston as a man of idleness and wealth.
Noyes had a secret contempt for members of the idle rich, and he included Cranston among them.