"Can you tell me where James Cunningham's apartment is?" asked Kirby.

The woman gasped. The hand on the doorknob was trembling violently.
Something clicked in her throat when the dry lips tried to frame an
answer.

"Head o' the stairs--right hand," she managed to get out, then shut the
door swiftly in the face of the man whose simple question had so
shocked her.

Kirby heard the latch released from its catch. The key in the lock
below also turned.

"She's takin' no chances," he murmured. "Now I wonder why both her an'
my fat friend are so darned worried. Who were they lookin' for when
they opened the door an' saw me? An' why did it get her goat when I
asked where Uncle James lived?"

As he took the treads that brought him to the next landing the
cattleman had an impression of a light being flashed off somewhere. He
turned to the right as the woman below had directed.

The first door had on the panel a card with his uncle's name. He
knocked, and at the same instant noticed that the door was ajar. No
answer came. His finger found the electric push button. He could hear
it buzzing inside. Twice he pushed it.

"Nobody at home, looks like," he said to himself. "Well, I reckon I'll
step in an' leave a note. Or maybe I'll wait. If the door's open he's
liable to be right back."