The detective took the paper and read:
“Will arrive nine-thirty, morning. Have important information. Don’t lose sight of C. L. before I get there.
Patsy.�
“Patsy did not receive the messages I sent early this morning,� was the only comment that Nick made as he put the paper into one of his pockets; but Chick had already gone to the telephone. He came hurrying back again a moment later.
“Lynne is there,� he said. “Oaks will detain him till we get there. Shall we go now?�
“Yes; only I want you, Chick, to go in another direction. Go to the Lynne residence and make a thorough search of the rooms and everything in them that this man has used since he has been recognized as Carleton Lynne. Telephone me from there, at Oaks’ office. I want you to find, most of all, an iron-gray wig, cropped false mustache, and a pair of oiled-silk face scars, such as we have had to use in disguises before now—and anything else that turns up. Come along, Pryor. We’ll take the subway.â€�
The detective left Pryor in the corridor of the office building while he entered the office of Benjamin Oaks; but a moment later he opened the door and beckoned to the clerk, who followed him inside, led him across the room to another door that was partly ajar, and said:
“Listen, and tell me whom you suppose to be in that room.�
After a moment of silence, during which Pryor listened to the murmur of voices that could be heard in the private office, he turned and, with a strange expression on his face, but without hesitation, said: