Five minutes later Carrie emerged from the side door of the saloon and turned toward the East River. At the same time a man in a modest suit of dark brown whirled into the side street and moved along rapidly, whistling and swinging a cane as he walked. Two men standing across the street followed along in the shadows.
The detective’s disguise was a good one. He had turned his reversible suit, removed his false mustache, washed the convivial red from his cheeks, and lined his face just a trifle, in order to make himself look older and thinner. No one who had seen him at Hall’s place would have recognized him now.
He passed Carrie at a swinging pace and turned at the next corner. There he waited in a convenient doorway for her to pass. As she did so, the two men crossed to the north side of the street, upon which the girl was walking, and followed on behind her. Nick crossed to the south side of the street, and walked along in silence, keeping abreast of the girl.
“This is rather a chestnut,” he mused, “releasing a suspect and following after, and Carrie may not go to Hughart. Yet she is not a very wise person, and I am sure that Molly told her to communicate with him.”
Nick knew very well that the two men who were following the girl were on the same mission as himself. The gang had not yet given up the notion of finding Hughart. They had shown both nerve and cunning in the game, as far as it had been played, and he looked for some unusual developments from them before the night was over.
Their presence complicated matters, but the detective could only follow on and take chances when the time came.
After walking several blocks, Carrie entered an all-night restaurant not far from the river, and seated herself at a table. From the opposite side of the street, Nick saw the trailers peering through the windows of the place, evidently in doubt as to the advisability of entering.
Carrie ordered a cup of coffee and a sandwich. The waiter who brought them remained at the table for a moment, and then talked briefly with a sporty-looking fellow who sat behind the desk, apparently the cashier.
Nick sauntered in and took a stool at the lunch counter, not far from the table where the girl sat. As he did so, the cashier approached the girl and opened a whispered conversation with her.