He looked at the clock. It was an hour and a half to midnight. If Snell meant to leave town at once he could hardly hope to do so until midnight, for that was the hour at which through trains started from most stations.
There was time to make a report to Nick and get back again if that should be necessary.
Accordingly Patsy hurried to Nick’s house, and told his chief what had happened.
Nick looked very thoughtful.
“I had about decided that the man is crazy,” he said. “I sent a telegram to the chief of police at Manchester, asking if he knew of any robbery of jewels, State papers, or anything else of great importance within a month. I also asked if there had been a mysterious disappearance within the same time, and if he knew who George Snell was. Here’s his answer, received five minutes ago.”
He handed a telegram to Patsy.
It read:
“Nothing doing in crime here. Never heard of George Snell. No man of that name lives here.
“Dinsmore.”