Suddenly they parted, and the woman ran back to the house.
Trent darted to the wall and hurried through the back street.
Chick Carter came to a quick decision—that he would follow the man.
What little he had seen convinced him that Trent was[{37}] back of, or at least directing, whatever business was to be done that morning.
Chick crept from his concealment, therefore, and within half a minute was on the track of the man.
If he had waited about three minutes, he would have seen Irma Valaska rush out to the garage again, from which she quickly sped away alone in an electric runabout.
She had been warned in accord with the instructions of Andy Margate, and she was away at top speed to confer with Captain Casper Dillon.
Upon stopping in front of this house, however, she became habitually crafty and discreet. Instead of ringing the doorbell, she stole in over the side path leading to the rear door and by the partly open French window, at which she arrived just in time to hear the conclusion of Nick Carter’s interview with Dillon, with the result already depicted.
Hardly a minute later, Tom Carney approached the house, bent upon warning Dillon, as Trent already had warned Irma Valaska. Carney saw the runabout in front of the house. He became discreet, also, and crept into the yard and nearly to the French window.
Turning a near corner three minutes later, still in pursuit of Larry Trent, Chick Carter saw the two men meet in front of the house. He drew back and watched them. He saw the runabout, but he had no reason to suppose that it had brought Irma Valaska to the house, nor did he then know that it was where Captain Dillon lived, or that Nick might be there.