He left the hotel, meaning to get a taxicab at the corner and spend his remaining half-hour in the city making a quick round of his relatives. As he came to the curb, he paused and turned. A passing car had swerved in suddenly, and he heard his name called. The chauffeur gestured to him.
Windsor stepped forward. The sedan door opened, and he found himself facing Dorothy Armstrong. She was leaning forward eagerly, her hand extended; and the startling change in her appearance since his last view of her, astonished and alarmed Windsor. He shook hands heartily, yet with the fervent inward wish that he were elsewhere. She could not know of the case on which he was working, yet—
"Get in, Tom, and I'll take you wherever you're going," Dorothy was saying. "There's something I want very much to ask you about. No, keep your cigar—I adore it, and you always picked such good ones!"
Windsor was caught off guard, and for once his ready brain failed him. He meekly entered the sedan, murmuring that he was on his way to the station.
"Then we can have a little talk," said Dorothy. "You're looking splendid, Tom, and I hear such fine things about you! Tell me—is it true that you're working on a case that involves Mr. Armstrong?"
For one instant Windsor was staggered, panic-stricken; even to the average eye Dorothy's condition was evident, and he hesitated whether to lie or tell the truth. Then he rallied, squared himself to meet pleas and protests, and the gaze that he turned to Dorothy was keenly alert.
"I can't discuss the matter, Dot," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, but—"
"Now, Tom, please don't be silly!" Her calm look disquieted him to a singular degree. "You have already answered my question. When I was in New York, I heard that you were about to involve Reese in some business matter, and I'm not going to ask you to discuss it in any way. But it's providential that we met, because there's something I want to ask you. And I'm not going to defend Reese or stand up for him."
Windsor could find no response, and waited. He was acutely embarrassed, but he was thoroughly on the alert. Dorothy's next words startled him afresh.
"Do you know anything about the business fight between Reese and a man named Macgowan?"