“Why, the patient in Room 318 hasn’t been changed elsewhere,” she replied. “At least, not to my knowledge. I’ve been off the floor for the last half hour.”
Inspecting Room 318 to satisfy herself that the bed was empty, Miss Brent questioned several nurses and an interne. No one seemed to know what had become of the patient. There was a whispered conference and then Miss Brent made a call to the superintendent.
“Something has happened to Jerry!” Penny told Salt tensely. “He may have been abducted!”
A nurse came flying up the hall from the locker room.
“Mr. Livingston’s clothes are gone!” she reported.
Light began to dawn on Penny. She recalled the seemingly innocent question Jerry had asked earlier that night as to the location of the clothes locker.
“He’s probably walked out of the hospital!” she exclaimed.
“Impossible!” snapped Miss Brent, though her voice lacked conviction. “Nurses have been on duty here all the time. Mr. Livingston couldn’t have obtained his clothes without being observed.”
“The floor was deserted for about ten minutes,” an interne recalled. “An emergency case came in and everyone was tied up.”
Penny re-entered Jerry’s room. The window remained closed and it was a straight drop of three stories to the yard below. She was satisfied the reporter had not taken that escape route.