"Yes, sir. Last midnight."
"Ah! Is he in?"
"No, sir."
The reporter's disappointment showed clearly in his face.
"I don't suppose you've heard anything further from Miss Meredith?" he ventured hopelessly.
"She's upstairs, sir."
Anyone who has ever stepped on a tack knows just how Hatch felt. He didn't stand on the order of being invited in—he went in. Being in, he extracted a plain calling-card from his pocketbook with twitching fingers and handed it to the waiting maid.
"When did she return?" he asked.
"Last night, about nine, sir."
"Where has she been?"