CHAPTER X
THE TORN NOTE
Only a word from Detective Nyler to the hotel clerk was needed to enable Larry and his friend to visit the room of the man who had disappeared so suddenly.
“It’s just as he left it,” remarked the officer, when they stood in the apartment.
“How do you know?” asked Larry.
“Because, after I found out I’d been fooled I made it my business to come in here, and not a thing has been changed. You see, Parloti’s week isn’t up for a few days yet, and, as he has paid for the room, they can’t very well put his things out. I even spoke to the chambermaid, and asked her not to sweep or dust; I thought we might like to look around.”
“That’s good,” commented Larry. “But how did you know he’d gone down the fire-escape?”
“I’ll tell you. It’s simple enough when you know how. After I saw him come in the hotel, and go up in the elevator, presumably to his room, I got rid of my disguise as a seller of papers. I had been in the hotel lobby, and that’s how I happened to see Parloti. When I thought he was safely settled in his room, I came up to mine.”
“Yours?” asked Larry in surprise. “I didn’t know you had a room here.”
“Yes, I hired one a few days ago. It’s right across the hall from Parloti’s, and I’ve been keeping tabs on him, but up to the time he left I hadn’t been able to get anything on him.
“As I said, I went to my room, which was just across the corridor from his. By standing on a chair, and looking through the transom over my door, I could see into his room, and, owing to the fact that his transom was opened, and that there is a large mirror in his room, I had a good view of everything he did.