A woman, evidently a servant, answered. The Phantom announced that he was a reporter on the Sphere and wished to speak with the master of the house. After a few moments’ wait a masculine voice came over the wire. It trembled a little, as if its owner was trying to control an intense excitement. Mr. Hardwick was at first unwilling to discuss the matter, but after repeated urgings admitted that he had requested the police to search for his daughter, who had been missing for two days. She had left home without explanations of any kind, and nothing had been heard from her since. As it was entirely unlike her to go away for any length of time without notifying her father, Mr. Hardwick feared something had happened to her.
The Phantom’s face had a blank look as he emerged from the booth. He remembered Miss Hardwick’s sudden and mysterious disappearance from Doctor Bimble’s laboratory. Something must have befallen her after leaving the scientist’s house, and the fact that she had not communicated with her father was disquieting.
He went out on the sidewalk and turned toward the corner. Of a sudden he was all caution and alertness. Someone was watching him.
CHAPTER XVIII—THE STARTING POINT
The Phantom feigned utter unconcern as he continued toward the corner. His acute senses had instantly registered the fact that he was an object of scrutiny. It vexed him not a little, for he was anxious to get on Helen Hardwick’s trail, and he had no relish for another adventure with the police. He looked about him out of the tail of an eye as he advanced with a leisurely swing.
It took him but a few moments to pick out the watcher from among the sprinkling of loungers and pedestrians on the sidewalk. The man’s dull face and stolid expression did not deceive the Phantom for a moment. He stood with his back against a shop window, and part of his face was hidden by a newspaper he pretended to be reading. The Phantom walked up beside him.
“You’re a detective, aren’t you?”
The man lowered the newspaper and gazed at the questioner out of deceptively sluggish eyes.
“What makes you think so?”
The Phantom chuckled, though he knew he was treading on dangerous ground. It was just possible that Granger, although he had not been long in the city and therefore could not have an extensive police acquaintance, had met this particular detective. A careful study of the man’s face reassured him, however.