On the way to New York they had decided it would be easiest to give a bellhop a generous tip and have him locate Captain Killian for them. Bellhops usually knew about every guest in a small hotel, and they suspected the Garden View would be small simply because none of them had ever heard of it.
"You're right," Scotty agreed. "A place like that wouldn't have a bellhop."
Rick searched for an idea. "You wouldn't know his signature on the register, would you. Cap'n?"
"Never seen him sign his name."
"Why couldn't one of us be a relative looking for him?" Jerry offered.
"Say, that's an idea!" Scotty exclaimed. "We could pretend he's a little cracked and describe him. The clerk would know who we meant, and he'd probably be glad to tell us, because hotels don't like having people who might be a little bit off."
"Cap'n Mike could do it," Rick said. "Cap'n, couldn't you pretend to be his brother?"
"Sure I could. Well, what are we waiting for? Do I go alone?"
"I'll go with you," Rick offered.
"Jerry and I had better wait, then," Scotty said. "It might look funny if four of us came trooping in like a chowder-and-marching club."