Five minutes passed.
Patsy then saw them troop back to the lime shed—Badger, Goulard, Dakin, Freeland, and Glidden, hurrying like evil shadows through the narrow passageway.
Patsy saw, too, that they were dragging the low truck—with a long object on it, covered with burlap. He watched it—but did not see it move.
Within a minute all had disappeared into the lime dealer’s building.
“Holy smoke!” thought Patsy, lingering only briefly. “Was that a corpse? If so—whose corpse? By Jove, I’ve got to make a bid to find out.”
Hurrying downstairs, Patsy found that the woman had just finished washing her windows. He thanked her again for her kindness, cautioned her to say nothing about his visit, and then he hurried from the house.
As he emerged from under the front steps, where the basement-hall door was located, he walked almost into the arms of—Chick Carter.
“Great Scott! here’s a stroke of luck,” Patsy said impulsively. “What sent you here?”
Chick was nearly as much surprised as Patsy, seeing him come from the second house.
“I shadowed Slugger Sloan up here,” he replied. “He left Moll Damon and came up here alone.”