“The clerk at the Palace Hotel.”
“Ah, indeed. What is the nature of your business with him?”
“That I will communicate with him personally,” answered Jim, who had conceived an instant distrust of the man. “What I wish to know is his present address.”
The lawyer leaned back in his chair and softly whistled for a moment with a sort of hissing sound.
“He’s concocting some sort of a scheme now,” thought Jim, who was regarding him critically.
“I cannot inform you of his exact whereabouts,” remarked the lawyer, “but he is somewhere in the northern part of the State. He was called away on some important business.”
“Was it in connection with the abduction of his daughter?” asked Jim, rising to his feet and standing beside the desk looking directly into the eyes of the lawyer.
“Eh, what is that?” asked the lawyer, hastily shuffling the papers on his desk, but not before Jim had caught sight of the words “San Mat—” in a familiar handwriting.
“I said, has his journey any connection with the abduction of his daughter?” repeated Jim.