CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Door Is OpenThe hotel was blazing with lights from tower to basement. Several cars were parked in front, and Gamadge drove on down to the garage, the rumble of the freight elevator in his ears. Officer Loomis was sitting in converse with Kimball, the night man, beside a long, low, shining bulk that Gamadge recognised as the Cowden touring car.
“Nobody’s been near it,” said Loomis. “Young feller came in, asked for the road maps. I got them out and give them to him. He asked what I was doin’ there, and I said, mindin’ my own business.”
“That was in the nature of a hint, wasn’t it?”
“I didn’t like the drawly way he talked. Had his head up, and looked down the sides of his nose.”
Gamadge laughed at this graphic description of Fred Barclay’s technique when surprised or
