“Hugh Royal?” An expression of amazement swept over Sunderland’s face. “Are you sure, Phantom? Royal always seemed like a quiet, decent chap to me. What makes you suspect him?”
“I set a trap,” the Phantom said. “And Hugh Royal walked right into it. His mere presence at the place I named was enough to convict him, though he claimed you had phoned to meet him there and then phoned again and canceled the date.”
Sunderland frowned, and reached for the half finished high ball sitting on a table close to his chair. He took a sip before he spoke again. “Of course that’s untrue, I didn’t phone him at all.”
“His story didn’t sound very convincing,” said the Phantom.
“I’m glad of that,” said Sunderland. “But I’m getting a new slant on Mr. Royal. I don’t like his involving me in this matter, Phantom. I might also add that he’s been endeavoring to see too much of Vicki.”
“But you know little about him?”
“Practically nothing. What of this man you spoke to me and Vicki about? Some crook you’d captured. Doesn’t he know Hugh Royal?”
“He hasn’t talked yet,” the Phantom admitted. “Of course, he will. We have no doubts about that, especially since he seems to have been left to take the blame alone. Frankly, I’m afraid I’m just wasting your time, Mr. Sunderland. I was hoping you might have been quite friendly with Royal and could provide some sort of a lead.”
“Afraid I can’t help you much on that.” Sunderland put his glass back down on the table. “I’d like to do it, of course, but I simply don’t know enough about Hugh Royal.”
The ringing of the phone at the other end of the room was loud and insistent in a little moment of silence. Sunderland rose and went toward the phone.
“Excuse me, please,” he said.
He picked up the phone, listened a moment, and then talked in such a low tone that even the Phantom’s keen ears could not distinguish the words. Then Sunderland hung up and came back to his chair, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“That was Hugh Royal,” he said slowly, as he sank down into the chair. “Judging from the way he spoke, he was excited and in a hurry. He asked me not to mention his name if anyone was here. He said he was leaving as soon as possible on an urgent business trip. He wanted to know if Vicki was here or where he could locate her.”
“You told him where to find her?” the Phantom snapped.
“Naturally.” Sunderland looked surprised. “Why not? After all they are good friends.”
“Don’t be so sure of that!” The Phantom got up quickly, his eyes fixed on Sunderland’s face. “If Vicki wanted Hugh Royal to know where she is now, she would have told him herself. I’m afraid you made a bad mistake in giving Royal her address, Sunderland.”
“But why?” demanded Sunderland. “I don’t understand.”
“Because Royal will murder Vicki if he gets the chance,” the Phantom said grimly.
“No!” Sunderland half rose from the chair, and then sank weakly down again. “And I gave him her address!” He wiped his hand across his forehead in a gesture of despair. “He’ll go there at once. What will we do, Phantom?”
“Don’t worry,” said the Phantom. “I’ll take care of it.” He moved hastily toward the door and then glanced back over his shoulder. “I can assure you that nothing will happen – to Vicki.”
Sunderland just sat there until he heard the door close behind the Phantom. Then he rose swiftly to his feet, went over to a window, drew the curtain back a trifle, and peered down at the street. He waited patiently until he saw the Phantom come out of the building, wave to a taxi, and get in when the cab stopped. The taxi rolled away and disappeared in the Fifth Avenue traffic.
“I really should have been an actor in stead of a business man,” Sunderland said as he turned away from the window. “I seem to possess quite a bit of dramatic ability.”
He went into his bedroom, whipped off the blue dressing robe and hastily buttoned his shirt at the neck. He put on a tie, changed from slippers to walking shoes, and then went back into the living room. Then he walked over to what seemed to be an antique secretary. It swung out under the proper manipulation, to reveal the surface of a fairly large safe.
Sunderland spun the combination, opened it, and nodded contentedly at the sight of the stacks of bills inside.
“I was getting rather tired of New York anyway,” he said. “A vacation will do me good.”
He closed the bag again and left it standing on the floor as he re-locked the safe and swung the secretary back into place. A feeling of uneasiness swept over him as he glanced at the chair in which the Phantom had been sitting. Had there been a double meaning in those last words the Phantom had uttered just before he left so hastily, Sunderland wondered.
“I can assure you that nothing will happen – to Vicki,” the Phantom had said.
Merely words of assurance to an apparently worried man – but why had there been that slight pause before the Phantom said the girl’s name. Had that meant the Phantom could not offer the same assurance to others – and Park Sunderland had been one of those.
“Rot!” Sunderland muttered. “I’m getting jittery over nothing.”
In the stillness that hung over the apartment the sound of his own words were comforting. He dismissed the uneasiness with a shrug as he went back into the bedroom. He put on his coat, packed another small bag with necessities, and finally took a.38 automatic out of a bureau drawer, pumped a bullet into the firing chamber, and set the safety at the ‘off’ position. He put this into a side pocket. Then he went back to the window where he stood watching the street again.
After twenty minutes of waiting that seemed like hours he finally saw a sleek sedan pull up to the curb in front of the apartment building. The door opened, and Bernie Pennell stepped out. Pennell stood on the sidewalk long enough to light a cigarette, and then he tossed away the empty pack and got back into the car.
“It’s about time he got here,” Sunderland said as he turned away from the window. “I’ve got a hunch we’d better hurry.”
CHAPTER XXII
MOVING hastily, Park Sunderland found the uneasiness was again with him as he put on his hat, and took a last look around the apartment before he picked up the two bags. He had been quite comfortable here, and he half regretted leaving – perhaps for good.
He picked up the bags and walked to the entrance door. When he reached it he put down one of the bags and switched off the lights. The darkness startled him, and as he glanced back there seemed something almost terrifying about the blackness behind him.
“I’m getting out of here!” Sunderland said. He opened the door, picked up the second bag, and stepped out into the hall. Then he closed the door and heard the lock snap into place. He rang for the elevator and waited impatiently for it to ascend. Finally the car door slid open, the elevator operator smiled as he saw Sunderland. The tips had been good from this man.
“Going away, Mr. Sunderland?” the boy asked as the head of the model agency stepped into the car and it started down.
“Just for a few days, Tom,” Sunderland said. “Business trip.”
He was suddenly impatient, but he tried to keep the curtness out of his voice. He had always maintained a friendly attitude with the employees of the big apartment house during the time he had lived there.
“Nice weather for traveling,” Tom said.
“Fine.”
The elevator stopped at the ground floor, and Sunderland got out. The door closed, and the car went up again as someone rang. Sunderland saw the lobby was deserted, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He did not know exactly what he had expected to find, but he was glad there was no one there.