Section 39Peter had a midnight appointment with McGivney, and now had togo and admit this humiliating failure. He had done his best, hedeclared; he had inquired at the desk, and waited and waited, butthe hotel people had failed to notify him of Lackman’sarrival. All this was strictly true; but it did not pacifyMcGivney, who was in a black fury. “It might have been worththousands of dollars to you!” he declared. “He’sthe biggest fish we’llever get on our hook.”
“Won’t he come again?” asked grief-strickenPeter.
“No,” declared the other. “They’ll gethim at his home city.”
“But won’t that do?” asked Peter, naively.
“You damned fool!” was McGivney’s response.“We wanted to get him here, where we could pluck himourselves.”
The rat-faced man hadn’t intended to tell Peter so much,but in his ra
