“I don’t know. He didn’t go down with me. Guess he must have walked.”
“Half-past two or three o’clock,” said Nick to himself. “The office boy told me that several parties came in while the strange woman was closeted with Redway and that he sent them all away. This old man was one of them, I suppose.”
Then, for the time being, Nick dismissed all thoughts of the old man from his mind. But the existence of that personage was destined soon to be recollected with startling force.
CHAPTER VII.
NICK AND CHICK IN CONFERENCE.
The great detective’s next move was to go straight home and summon his right-hand man, Chick, for a conference.
Without a waste of words or time he put his assistant in possession of all the facts of the case up to that minute.
When he finally ended the details with an account of his visit to the elevator boy he threw himself back in his chair and gave Chick a look which meant:
“That is all. What do you think of it?”
The latter returned his chief’s stare for a full minute; then he uttered the single word:
“Well?”