“We must use our heads and determine what direc[{20}]tion he naturally would have taken. He would not have ventured to the lighted streets. He would have known he might be seen and arrested.”
“That would have been very probable, chief, for fair,” said Patsy.
“He may have crossed the rear grounds, therefore, and perhaps saw that house which fronts on the avenue. The roof could have been seen above the trees, even in the darkness.”
“That’s right, too.”
“We’ll go that way, Patsy, and see what we can learn. Keep your eyes open for footprints.”
“Bet you!” said Patsy sententiously.
It took them only a few minutes to cross the Dabney grounds, when they brought up at a low wall flanking the rear of the estate Nick had noticed when he first arrived in that locality. It now struck him even more familiarly, though he never had seen the rear grounds, nor that side of the imposing wooden residence.
“Come on,” he said, leaping over the wall. “The direct course, if Margate had his head and really came this way, would have been around the garage and across the side lawn.”
“Sure, chief, if he was heading for the house,” said Patsy.
“A dwelling is where he most likely would have sought clothing,” Nick replied. “A knave as desperate as he and as sorely in need of garments would not have shrunk from breaking in and——”