They chatted about golf and other things for another half hour. Then the baroness, after thanking “the colonel� for the pleasant evening he had afforded her, arose to go to her room.
Nick Carter accompanied her to the elevator. When the car had shot upward, he hurried back to the table where they had been sitting in the restaurant and picked up the half-burned wax match he had dropped after lighting his cigarette.
As he slipped the match into his waistcoat pocket, to keep company with the other two whole matches he had borrowed from Baroness Latour’s gold match box, he ran against James Mallory in the lobby.
“Can I have your head porter for an hour or two this evening, Mr. Mallory?� asked the detective, in a low tone. “I’ve noticed him around here. He’s the kind of husky chap I may need.�
“Why, what——â€�
“Never mind about talking it over, Mr. Mallory,� interrupted the detective, with a protesting smile. “Can I have the man?�
“Certainly! His name is Mike Corrigan. He is a good, dependable fellow, and strong enough for anything you are likely to ask of him. Moreover, he is not afraid of anything. If you will come to my office, I will have him come there.�
Mike Corrigan was quite willing to accompany Colonel Pearson anywhere, and after a few minutes’ conversation, it was arranged that Mike was to meet the detective in the lobby in fifteen minutes.
“Put a coat on,� directed Nick. “Have you such a thing as a revolver?�
“Never owned a gun in my life,� was Mike’s reply.[Pg 16]