Delaney was over in three minutes. “All right,” he said cheerfully. “O’Toole says that Nichols left the drug-store and walked south. Trail led to Fred’s Old English Chop House where Nichols drank a split of mineral water and had a chop with a potato. He ’phoned twice before leaving. O’Toole don’t know where to. The booth was soundproof and all the lad did was to drop coins. He left a piece of paper in the booth. O’Toole got it. Here it is, Chief.”
Drew slanted a torn portion of envelope and studied its surface. He deciphered a scrawling handwriting into the words, “Loris, Loris, Gramercy Hill, Attorney Denman of Cedar Street, will consult with him in morning.... Drew’s Detective Agency ... look out.”
“Umph!” said Drew, pocketing the scrap of paper with a thoughtful frown. “That last may be a warning. Again it could be a mere notation. What else did O’Toole find, Delaney?”
“That’s all, except that he put the boy to bed here at about one o’clock. There’s a ’phone in Nichols’ apartment. O’Toole sneaked up the stairs and heard it ringing. He had to come down for fear of queering things. He said that’s all, chief.”
The detective turned and entered the storm-door. He struck a match and, shielding it with his hands, searched the names over the mailboxes. A neat card, set in well-polished bronze, indicated, “Harry E. Nichols, Apartment Three.”
“He keeps this place all of the time,” said Drew, jabbing at the button. “He’s down on furlough or Government business. Nice place, this,” he added as the inner door-lock clicked and he thrust his foot forward. “Looks like about two hundred a month. This is exclusively bachelor!”
“Them bachelor apartments,” said Delaney with candor as he glided into the hallway. “Them places like this ain’t what they seem. There’s some big parties pulled off in them. I remembers––”
“Sisst!” warned Drew, clutching the operative’s arm. “Easy,” he whispered. “Come on. Somebody is waiting upstairs for us. See his head in the light by the banister. Same chap, ain’t it?”
“Can’t see, Chief. Might be!”
“Nice house,” commented Drew as his feet sank in a deep-blue hall carpet. “Good ornaments and fixtures throughout the place. Nice house! Just about what I’d expected. Here we are. I’ll do the talking.”