"Yes," said Captain Sutton, "I do."
"Can you think of any reason why he should jump ashore just as we were starting for the Hudson River?"
"He might have been saying goodbye to his best girl and taken no heed of the warning to go ashore."
"That won't do," the purser declared. "All his kit is in his stateroom and he had already seen his table steward and arranged about his seat. He went off on the impulse of the moment and I'd like to know what that impulse was."
"Has anyone missed anything?" Colliver asked.
"Don't know," the purser said. "Haven't heard of anything so far. I wirelessed the office and the pier superintendent and they have lost all trace of him. The last they heard of him was that he was seen offering a taxicab driver double fare to drive fast."
"He saw someone on the ship he was afraid of," Colliver said with the air of one called upon to solve a deep mystery.
The purser was determined not to let Captain Sutton get back to his solitaire.
"I'm afraid I'll have to ask you more about your friend," he said smiling, "the whole thing is so unusual that the old man wants a thorough investigation. In confidence, is there anything fishy about this Anthony Trent?"