The dog took the lead from time to time, then, as his master kept on the trail, dropped back to his side. That trail led to an apartment house, some seven blocks from where Zoom had left the car. The apartment house was simple, unpretentious. The name was scrolled in gilt on the glass of the door.
“Bratten Arms Apartments.”
Sidney Zoom tried the door. It was locked. The lobby was dark.
Zoom pursed his lips, looked at the directory. There was no person listed under the name of Drake; nor did the first name of any of the tenants seem to be Muriel.
Sidney Zoom walked across the street, paused in the shadows, looking up at the front of the building, seeking to ascertain if there was a light in any of the front apartments.
While he stared, the front door of the apartment opened. A man emerged. He had on a gray-checked overcoat, a gray, wide-brimmed hat, carried a stick, wore gray gloves, and pounded the steps leading down to the sidewalk with feet that seemed to be very much in a hurry to get somewhere.
Zoom started to call to this man, then thought better of it.
He walked back across the street, tried the door once more, found that it was still locked. There had been, in his mind, the possibility that perhaps the catch hadn’t clicked as the door had swung slowly shut after the exit of the man in the gray overcoat.
Zoom muttered a word to the dog, turned, walked swiftly back toward the place where he had left his car. The man in the gray overcoat, hearing those steps, suddenly whirled, stared at Sidney Zoom.
Zoom caught a glimpse of the face. It was white, drawn. The cheeks were high and bony. The skin was drawn tightly over the forehead. There was a little, close-clipped mustache, and the eyes were dark, bright as with a fever.
For a long moment the light of the street corner shone on the features. Then the gloved hand jerked the wide brim of the hat down. The right hand dropped into the side pocket of the overcoat.
Sidney Zoom walked past, apparently giving no heed to the man who waited, watchful, poised.
Zoom turned to the right. The man in gray turned to the left, abruptly.
Zoom returned to his car. He made no effort to follow the man who had emerged from the apartment house. Zoom had absolutely nothing to connect him with the girl. Nor did he have any reason to regard the man with suspicion. It is not unusual for the belated wayfarer to scrutinize carefully those who come purposefully from behind. And this is particularly true of those who materialize suddenly from streets that are apparently deserted.
Zoom walked back to his car. He had a nebulous idea of cruising the streets and picking up the man in gray, offering him a ride.
He unlocked the transmission and ignition in his car, stepped on the starter.
The police dog growled.
Sidney Zoom paused, his hand creeping slowly toward the lapel of his coat. A dim shadow lurched from an adjacent doorway. Another man came walking diagonally across the street. A car which had been parked without lights, came drifting silently down the street, shortening the distance between it and Zoom’s car.
Zoom’s lips set in a grim line. The hawklike eyes snapped cold fires. Then a red spotlight flooded the scene. One of the approaching men jerked back his coat and disclosed a police star.
He walked to the running board of the machine.
“Okay, buddy. Don’t make any sudden moves. Nothing’s going to happen to you unless you’ve got it coming.”
The police dog, hearing the antagonistic tone of the man’s voice, stared at his master appealingly, waiting for the command which would enable him to forget restraint and tear into these men. But that command did not come. Zoom sat quiet, calm, scornful.
A man’s voice drifted in through the open window to the left of the driver. The man was examining the back of the car.
“This is the car!” said the voice. “I can tell by the way it’s shaped in back... And here’s a bullet hole. That’s where my shell hit!”
The plainclothes officer nodded his head, called in a low voice to the men who were in the police car with the red spotlight: “This looks like the guy. Watch him!”
Sidney Zoom, his lip twisted in something of a sneer, made no move, said nothing.
“Where were you about twenty minutes ago, buddy?”
Sidney Zoom regarded the questioner with cold eyes.
“I was cruising the streets.”
“What for?”
“Pleasure.”
“Yeah. Well, you seen a broad making a getaway, and you acted as the getaway guy. You had the car planted ready for her to make a break...”
Sidney Zoom interrupted.
“I did nothing of the sort. I was cruising the streets. I saw a young woman, running from a group of men who seemed to be filling her with fear. Those men opened fire upon me without warning.”
The man who stood at Zoom’s side pushed a little closer. The police dog gave a low, throaty growl. Two men from the back of the car moved up.
“Yeah?” said the man at the window. And his tone conveyed utter disbelief.
“Exactly!” snapped Sidney Zoom. “I am telling you exactly what occurred. This woman was running, evidently in fear. I opened the door. She jumped in. Three men showed up and started shooting. The woman told me later that they were gangsters and racketeers who were trying to take her for a ride.”
The plainclothes man grunted.
“Well, buddy, you got yourself in a tough spot. That woman was being taken to Headquarters for questioning in connection with a robbery an’ murder. Then you horned in and gave her a getaway... Where’d you take her?”
“Continental Hotel,” said Zoom unhesitatingly. “She walked in, talked with the night clerk and then went up.”
“What’s your name?” asked the officer.
“Zoom, Sidney Zoom.”
The officer was plainly surprised.
“The hell it is!” he said.
“Exactly,” said Zoom. “And if those men who pursued the girl were police, why the devil didn’t they blow a police whistle or give me some sort of a sign instead of just opening fire? Furthermore, if they were police, taking a lone, unarmed woman to Headquarters, why didn’t they take her there instead of letting her get a seventy-five yard headstart on them?”
The plainclothes man was a little less belligerent.
“They were private dicks, from the company that was engaged by the store that got robbed. They’d pinned something on the woman. On the way to Headquarters they had a blowout. When they jacked the car something happened and it slid off the jack and down on the leg of one of the boys. It broke the leg, and the other three had to lift the car to get him out.
“The broad was giving them a good song. She’s a clever little liar. They didn’t think she was particularly hot. Then she dusted out. When they found her making a getaway they knew she was mixed up in it bad. Pete, go over to the Continental and check that information about her going in there. If she’s there, get the place surrounded. She’s slippery.
“So you’re Zoom, eh? The guy that prowls around at night looking for adventure, eh? Well, buddy, you’ve got plenty of adventure now. You’re an accessory after the fact, an’ you’ll go up on the carpet!”
Sidney Zoom’s level, hawk-like eyes bored in scornful appraisal into those of the officer.
“Since when,” he asked, coldly, “has it become a crime for a citizen to offer a young woman a lift? And since when has it become a crime to drive away from three men who open fire without a word of explanation?”
The plainclothes man’s face darkened.
“None of your brass!” he growled.
“That,” snapped Sidney Zoom, “is not brass. It’s steel!”