“One moment, please.”
He kept the receiver to his ear for a few seconds, and then the clerk’s voice sounded again.
“Hello?” it said. “Mr. Mortimer isn’t in at present. He went out with a friend immediately after breakfast. He’s been gone about two hours now.”
Patsy could have kicked himself at that moment. “Have you any idea where he has gone?”
“No, I haven’t. He went out with another of our guests, though, and——”
The assistant caught eagerly at that clew. “Was it Mr. Crawford?” he asked.
“Yes, that’s the gentleman. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. Mr. Mortimer doesn’t seem to have left any word. Will you leave a message for him?”
Patsy thought for a moment. “No, I believe not,” he said, after a pause. “I’ll telephone later on, or drop around there.”
He replaced the receiver and leaned back disappointedly. “Worse and more of it,” he mused. “First, Chick slips out of my reach, and now the chief is off somewhere. This is certainly my unlucky morning. Of course, Chick didn’t suppose I had anything of importance to report, and that’s why he let me sleep. Now time is flying. Follansbee has got Stone in his clutches for some beastly purpose of his own, and I don’t know what to do about it. It’s up to the chief to decide that, and I can’t reach him.”