The weazened individual handed him one, but the Phantom seemed in no hurry to light his cigarette.
“I kinda thought you’d get yourself in bad, the way you carried on,” continued the little man, gazing indifferently at the body. “Didn’t you savvy the note I slipped you?”
“It was plain enough.”
“But you paid no more attention than if it had been an invitation to a dog fight.”
“I didn’t think there was any great rush,” said the Phantom cautiously. “I thought to-morrow would be time enough.”
“Time enough? He, he! Well, you’re a queer one, Granger. Guess you don’t know the big chief the way I do. When he sends for you it means he wants you right away. He’s already kinda leery about you and— But that’s your funeral. Hope for your sake you can square yourself with him. It’s a lucky thing I turned back and got on your trail after slipping you the note.”
The Phantom, wondering what had happened to the policeman, looked uneasily at the door. “Where’s Pinto?” he asked after a pause.
“The cop? Oh, I fixed him. Handed him one from the rear as he was starting down the stairs, and he never knew what struck him. Just gave a grunt and went down like a bag of cement. You see, I’d been standing at the door trying to get the hang of the gabfest between you and him. I couldn’t hear much—only a word now and then—but when the door opens and the cop walks out I know there’s trouble, and so I hand him one on the bean. Say, how much is that cop wise to?”
“Eh?” The Phantom stared for an instant, uncertain how he should play his rôle, but he quickly grasped the threads of the situation. “Oh, Pinto is away off on his hunches. Hasn’t the least idea I’m one of your gang, but thinks I am dragging a red herring across the Phantom’s trail. Rich—what?”
The other chuckled mirthlessly. “I’ll say it is. Well, the cop won’t do any talking for quite a long stretch, and when he comes to things will be kind of hazy in his coco. You’d better come along with me and make your spiel to the big chief. You’ll have to do some tall explaining, and, unless you can square yourself, you may wish the cop had got you.”