CHAPTER VII
THE CLEW OF THE BRICKS
For a moment Larry did not know what to do. It seemed almost unnatural that, at the very moment when his long quest should have been partly successful, the very man whom, above all others, he wanted to capture, should stand before him.
“Are you sure—very sure?” he whispered to Miss Mason.
“Quite sure,” she replied. “I remember because I was alone here at the time, and as I came up from a distant part of the store I saw this man standing here at the pile of valises, examining them. I hurried up to wait on him, for we don’t like customers to be kept waiting, and none of the clerks was at hand then. It was then I sold him the valise.”
“And you’re sure this is the same man?” asked Larry again.
“Almost positive,” she replied, still whispering. “I saw his back first, and, though I have not a very good memory for faces, I can very often recognize persons by their forms. I’m sure this is the same man. He has on the same kind of coat, and——”
“I wonder what I’d better do?” interrupted Larry. “If that’s the fellow, he had something to do with the robbery, and he ought to be questioned, if nothing more. I wonder if I can send a message to police headquarters from here, and keep watch of that man so he doesn’t get away?”
“I’ll telephone for you,” offered the girl eagerly. “I’d like to do you a favor after what you did for me. You stay here, and watch that man. I’ll call up the police. We have branch ’phones on every floor. Wait for me.”
Just as she was about to hurry away, and when another moment would have brought about a curious complication of affairs, the man about whom they were talking suddenly turned around. He had been looking at some steamer trunks, and, apparently having about decided on the kind he wanted, he looked around for a clerk to wait on him. This gave Larry and Miss Mason a good view of his face, and the girl in a tense whisper at once exclaimed:
“Oh, Mr. Dexter! I’ve made a mistake! That isn’t the man at all. Oh, don’t summon the police!”