“Well, you’ll pass,” he said, as the truth dawned on him.
“What’s new?” asked the detective.
“I called to report on that telephone matter.”
“Good! The man you sent out must have been a live one to get back with a report as soon as this.”
“I attended to it myself.”
“Much obliged, chief. Did you experience any difficulty?”
“None at all. At central they told me that the call for Nicholas, at the Central House, came from a pay station in a drug store.
“I got the number of the drug store, and found that it is less than a block from here.
“At about the time you received your call, one of the clerks in the store remembered seeing a short, thickset man——”
“Short and thickset, eh?” interposed Nick.