CHAPTER XXV
A CONFERENCE OF THREE
Kirby heard his name being paged as he entered his hotel.
"Wanted at the telephone, sir," the bell-hop told him.
He stepped into a booth and the voice of Rose came excited andtremulous. It was less than ten minutes since he had left her at thedoor of her boarding-house.
"Something's happened, Kirby. Can you come here--right away?" shebegged. Then, unable to keep back any longer the cry of her heart, shebroke out with her tidings. "Esther's gone."
"Gone where?" he asked.
"I don't know. She left a letter for me. If you'll come to thehouse--Or shall I meet you downtown?"
"I'll come. Be there in five minutes."
He more than kept his word. Catching a car on the run at the nearestcorner, he dropped from it as it crossed Broadway and walked toCherokee.
Rose opened the house door when he rang the bell and drew him into theparlor. With a catch of the breath she blurted out again the news.
"She was gone when I got home. I found--this letter." Her eyes soughthis for comfort. He read what Esther had written.
I can't stand it any longer, dearest. I'm going away where I won'tdisgrace you. Don't look for me. I'll be taken care oftill--afterward.
And, oh, Rose, don't hate me, darling. Even if I am wicked, love me.And try some time to forgive your little sister.
ESTHER
"Did anybody see her go?" Lane asked.
"I don't know. I haven't talked with anybody but the landlady. Shehasn't seen Esther this afternoon, she said. I didn't let on I wasworried."
"What does she mean that she'll be taken care of till afterward?Who'll take care of her?"
"I don't know."
"Have you any idea where she would be likely to go--whether there isany friend who might have offered her a temporary home?"
"No." Rose considered. "She wouldn't go to any old friend. You seeshe's--awf'ly sensitive. And she'd have to explain. Besides, I'd findout she was there."
"That's true."
"I ought never to have left her last spring. I should have found workhere and not gone gallumpin' all over the country." Her chin trembled.She was on the verge of tears.
"Nonsense. You can't blame yourself. We each have to live our ownlife. How could you tell what was comin'? Betcha we find her rightaway. Mebbe she let out somethin' to Cole. She doesn't look to melike a girl who could play out a stiff hand alone."
"She isn't. She's dependent--always has leaned on some one." Rose hadregained control of herself quickly. She stood straight and lissom,mistress of her emotions, but her clear cheeks were colorless. "I'mworried, Kirby, dreadfully. Esther hasn't the pluck to go throughalone. She--she might--"
No need to finish the sentence. Her friend understood.
His strong hand went out and closed on hers. "Don't you worry,pardner. It'll be all right. We'll find her an' take her somewhereinto the country where folks don't know."
Faintly she smiled. "You're such a comfort."
"Sho! We'll get busy right away. Denver ain't such a big town that wecan't find one li'l' girl _muy pronto_." His voice was steady andcheerful, almost light. "First off, we'll check up an' see if any onesaw her go. What did she take with her?"
"One suitcase."
"How much money? Can you make a guess?"
"She had only a dollar or two in her purse. She had money in the bank.I'll find out if she drew any."
"Lemme do that. I'll find Cole, too. You make some inquiries roundthe house here, kinda easy-like. Meet you here at six o'clock. Ormebbe we'd better meet downtown. Say at the Boston Chop House."
Cole was with Kirby when he met Rose at the restaurant.
"We'll go in an' get somethin' to eat," Lane said. "We'll talk whilewe're waitin'. That way we'll not lose any time."
They found a booth and Kirby ordered the dinner. As soon as the waiterhad gone he talked business.
"Find out anything, Rose?"
"Yes. A girl at the house who works for the telephone company sawEsther get into an automobile a block and a half from the house. A manhelped her in. I pretended to laugh and asked her what sort of alookin' man he was. She said he was a live one, well-dressed andhandsome. The car was a limousine."
"Good. Fits in with what I found out," Kirby said. "The bank wasclosed, but I got in the back door by pounding at it. The teller atthe K-R window was still there, working at his accounts. Esther didnot draw any money to-day or yesterday."
"Why do you say good?" Cole wanted to know. "Is it good for our li'l'friend to be in the power of this good-lookin' guy with the big car,an' her without a bean of her own? I don't get it. Who is the man?Howcome she to go with him? She sure had no notion of goin' when wewas eatin' together an hour before."
"I don't see who he could be. She never spoke of such a man to me,"Rose murmured, greatly troubled.
"I don't reckon she was very well acquainted with him," Lane said,shaking out his napkin.
The talk was suspended while he ladled the soup into the plates and thewaiter served them. Not till the man's back was turned did Rose flingout her hot challenge to Kirby.
"Why would she go with a man she didn't know very well? Where wouldshe be going with him?" The flame in her cheeks, the stab of her eyes,dared him to think lightly of her sister. It was in her temperament toface all slights with high spirit.
His smile reassured. "Mebbe she didn't know where she was goin'. Thatwas his business. Let's work this out from the beginnin'."
Kirby passed Rose the crackers. She rejected them with a littlegesture of impatience.
"I don't want to eat. I'm not hungry."
Lane's kind eyes met hers steadily. "But you must eat. You'll be ofno help if you don't keep up your strength."
Rather than fight it out, she gave up.
"We know right off the reel Esther didn't plan this," he continued."Before we knew the man was in it you felt it wasn't like her to runaway alone, Rose. Didn't you?"
"Yes."
"She hadn't drawn any money from her account, So she wasn't makin' anyplans to go. The man worked it out an' then persuaded Esther. It's nosurprise to me to find a Mr. Man in this thing. I'd begun to guess itbefore you told me. The question is, what man."
The girl's eyes jumped to his. She began to see what he was workingtoward. Cole, entirely in the dark, stirred uneasily. His mind wasstill busy with a possible love tangle.
"What man or men would benefit most if Esther disappeared for a time?We know of two it might help," the man from Twin Buttes went on.
"Your cousins!" she cried, almost in a whisper.
"Yes, if we've guessed rightly that Esther was married to Uncle James.That would make her his heir. With her in their hands and away fromus, they would be in a position to drive a better bargain. They knowthat we're hot on the trail of the marriage. If they're kind toher--and no doubt they will be--they can get anything they want fromher in the way of an agreement as to the property. Looks to me likethe fine Italian hand of Cousin James. We know Jack wasn't the man.He was busy at Golden right then. Kinda leaves James in the spotlight,doesn't it?"
Rose drew a long, deep breath. "I'm so glad! I was afraid--thoughtmaybe she would do something desperate. But if she's being lookedafter it's a lot better. We'll soon have her back. Until then they'llbe good to her, won't they?"
"They'll treat her like a queen. Don't you see? That's their game.They don't want a lawsuit. They're playin' for a compromise."
Kirby leaned back and smiled expansively on his audience of two. Hebegan to fancy himself tremendously as a detective.