. He
rushed into the room, a tiny box with only a bed, a washstand and a
closet. It was empty. He flung the closet door open and saw a
suitcase.

"He's gone," he called, and rushed back into the hall again. Cap'n
Mike already was trying other doors. All of them were locked except
the bath, and that was empty.

Rick ran the other way, to the end of the hall where a window stood
open. Fire escape! He leaned far out the window and looked down into a
maze of back alleys. Then his searching eyes saw a figure scurrying
through them, heading east.

"Cap'n," he called. "Hurry downstairs! Tell Jerry to cut around the
block. He's heading east, the same way the car is. I'll go after him!"
He swung a leg through the window and jumped to the steel fire escape
as Cap'n Mike rushed for the stairs.

Rick went down the open steel stairs as though he had wings. As he
passed the second floor, he saw the clerk's mouth open to call. Rick
didn't wait to see what he had to say. Perhaps he was trying to tell
him Captain Killian had gone down, too. The clerk would have seen him.
Rick shook his head. The captain must have waited on the fire escape
until they started up the stairs in order to avoid being seen through
the window.

The last flight was counterbalanced. He stepped on the stairs and they
swung down with a faint groan. Then he was on the ground. He turned
east and ran, leaping over fallen trash and barrels. He had a picture
of the alleys in his mind, so he took all the right turns but one.
That one brought him into a dead end. He backtracked quickly and found
the right way out, and in a moment he came out on the avenue. He
stopped on the curb and looked both ways, spying Jerry's car on the
uptown side, cruising along slowly. He started to call, then realized
Jerry wouldn't hear him. Better to wait. If the car hadn't reached the
avenue before Captain Killian, it was a good bet that they had lost
him. He scuffed his shoe on the curb disgustedly.

Jerry swung into the next cross street, apparently with the intention
of going completely around the block. And Rick saw a figure step out
of a doorway the moment the coast was clear! The man fitted the
description Cap'n Mike had given. Rick turned his back hurriedly and
walked leisurely in the opposite direction. Then he turned into an
alley between two buildings and peered out. Captain Killian was
walking briskly uptown. Rick saw him turn right at the next corner, in
the direction opp