“He said to tell Miss Strong that he had called.”
“Then he didn’t suspect you.”
“Isn’t there danger, though, that he may come up to the Hoff apartment?”
Dean sprang to the window and looked out at the street below.
“No, there he goes up the street. He evidently did not try to see if the Hoffs were at home. That’s funny.”
“Why funny?”
“It means of course that he, too, knows about those Wednesday trips the Hoffs make.”
Cautiously he opened the door into the public hall. There was no one about. Catlike in swiftness and silence he moved to the Hoff door and inserted his new-made key. It worked perfectly.
“Now,” he whispered to Jane, “to the roof—quick. I must not be taken by surprise. Give me at least ten minutes more—fifteen if you can.”
Quickly he passed inside, closing the door behind him all but a barely noticeable crack, as Jane rang for the elevator and bade the operator take her to the roof. As she emerged there and stood waiting for the elevator to descend again, an ornamental lattice screened her from the rest of the roof. Cautiously and curiously she peered between the slats, trying to see what the Hoff servant was doing at the moment. She decided that she would not reveal her presence until the woman made ready to go down-stairs.