Delamare shook his head decisively. "I can't stand for anything like that."
Having obtained the approval of his banker and his lawyer for his plans, Jack felt encouraged to go ahead. As Delamare and Brome were leaving Jack said:
"Can either of you put me in touch with a high police official, a man I can apply to in case of need?"
"I know the third deputy commissioner," said Delamare. "I'll give you a note to him."
When Jack and Bobo started out on the automobile buying expedition they left the Madagascar by the front door.
"The back door must be saved for emergencies," said Jack. "We'll have to get used to running the gauntlet."
However since no photographs had yet been published they were not generally recognized in the lobby. They only had one encounter. That was in that well-known cross corridor behind the lobby, where under the softly shaded lights amidst tropical verdure lovely ladies await their companions for luncheon and tea. As Bobo and Jack passed through one of these, a really dazzling creature in an ermine cape jumped up from her fauteuil.
"Mr. Norman!" she cried, addressing Bobo. "I'm sure I can't be mistaken!"
Bobo fell back in dismay. Jack looked on with a twinkle. It was not up to him to rescue his partner. The lady was of that highly-finished type that defies time—for a long time. She might have been twenty-eight or thirty-eight. For furs, millinery and hairdressing one couldn't see much of the woman God made, except a pair of big blue eyes, the whites slightly discolored from make-up. Her clothes outstyled style—but all was in good taste. It looked like the real thing.
"I am Clara Birmingham that was," she went on. "Don't you remember me?"