Turning quickly, he discovered what he had in mind. A wad of cotton waste soiled with greasy blue paste had been tossed amid some rubbish in one corner. On a beam near by was an open can of Prussian blue powder, and near it a tin box containing some of the paste and a soiled brush.
Patsy did not want more convincing evidence. He stole out by the way he had entered, easily departing unseen in the deepening dusk, and feeling reasonably sure that Toby Monk then would be found in the saloon mentioned.
“I’ll have a look, at all events,” he said to himself. “Toby was the chauffeur, all right, and through him I may identify the others. Gee whiz! It’s lucky I thought of that method to alter the number plate. It put me on the right track. I’ll drop the chief a line in the next letter box, lest I unexpectedly throw a shoe, and then I’ll keep up my good work. I’ll be hanged if I’ll quit a trail that’s just warming up.”
It was half past six, and dusk had turned to darkness, when Patsy approached Foley’s saloon in Prince Street, within a block of police headquarters. It was a restaurant and barroom of the better class, with a corresponding patronage, and he paused briefly on the opposite side to gaze through the broad plate-glass windows.
He could see nearly a score of men in the saloon, some talking and drinking at the bar, others seated in a row of side booths, and nearly as many in the rear restaurant. He was unable to discover one so like the chauffeur in height and figure as to be sure of his identity, however, and he then decided to enter and use his wits. Approaching the bar, he bought a glass of beer and lingered to drink it moderately. Taking a moment when one of the bartenders was idle and near him, he inquired carelessly:
“How far must I go to hit a jitney?”
“Main Street, two blocks east,” said the bartender tersely.
“Don’t any of them go through this street?”
“Sometimes, but not regular. Mebbe, though, that——” The bartender stopped and looked searchingly toward the restaurant, until his gaze fell upon a man at one of the side tables. “Ah, there he is! I thought he was there.”
“Thought who was here?”