"Dead?" Mazie caught at her throat.
"Sure. Didn't you read about it? Long time ago. Died in Russia."
"Oh!" Mazie sank limply into a chair. "Then you haven't heard? He isn't arrested? He isn't here?"
"Arrested?" The sergeant's face took on an amused and puzzled look; then he smiled again. "Oh, yes, there was something on the records tonight saying he and a Jap was wanted for conspiracy. But take it from me, lady, that's all pure bunk; some crook posing as Johnny Thompson, more than likely. I tell you, there never was a more loyal chap than this same Johnny; one of the first to enlist."
"I—I know," faltered Mazie. Now, for the first time, she noticed a man who had entered after her. He stepped to the desk and asked a question regarding a person she knew nothing of. Then he went silently out again. Mazie sat quite still, then rising, she smiled faintly at the sergeant.
"I—I guess you must be right—but—but the papers are full of it."
"Oh, the papers!" The officer spread his hands out in a gesture of contempt. "They'd print anything!"
As Mazie stepped out into the street she was approached by a man, and with a little start, she noticed that it was the one who had entered the police station a few minutes before. Halting, she waited for him to speak.
"You were looking for Johnny Thompson?" He said the words almost in a whisper.
"Yes."