“I thought so, too, but you know a leopard can’t change his spots. Lannigan is supposed to have made an attempt to get into the house, but failed, and escaped before he could be captured again. I fancy he is again employed by somebody who knows his ability as a cracksman; so if you spot Lannigan, keep close to him and see where the trail leads.”
He then told Patsy in detail what had already passed, and added a word of warning that, if the Detective Bureau did send a straight person there, Mr. Sanborn was not to be allowed to offend them by driving them off.
As Nick was about to leave the house, Chick and Ida arrived in quick succession, and he stopped long enough to instruct them and post them in their proper places.
He went down the steps, walking toward the corner. There he saw Lannigan at a distance talking with another, who, leaving Lannigan, jumped into a cab and was driven away rapidly.
Lannigan turned in another direction and disappeared, despite Nick’s efforts to keep him in sight.
“Where have I seen that man who was with Lannigan? His face is familiar, but I can’t place him.”
Dismissing the matter for the time, however, he hurried home to prepare himself to figure as one of Mr. Sanborn’s guests at the wedding.
CHAPTER XV.
A MISSING BRIDEGROOM.
When Nick returned to the house of Mr. Sanborn, it had already taken on a festive air.
The decorators had completed their labor and the florists had, at last, taken themselves off.