I described the three men to the best of my ability, and Mr. Blumentein
took down carefully all that I said.

"I will have the fullest inquiries made," he promised, "and let you know
the result. In the meantime, I trust that you will consider the letter I
wrote you this morning unwritten. You will doubtless prefer to leave the
hotel after what has happened, but another time, I trust that we may be
honored by your patronage."

I hesitated for a moment. It was clear that the man wanted to get rid of
me. For the first time, the idea of remaining in the hotel occurred to
me.

"I will consider the matter," I answered. "In the meantime, I hope you
will have inquiries made at once. The man who took refuge in my room was
in a terrible state of fright, and from what I saw of the other two,
I am afraid you may find this a more serious affair than you have any
idea of. By the bye, one of the two told me that they had engaged every
room in that corridor. You may be able to trace him by that."

Mr. Blumentein shrugged his shoulders.

"That statement, at any rate, was a false one," he said. "All the rooms
in the vicinity of yours were occupied by regular customers."

Now, in all probability, if Mr. Blumentein had looked me in the face
when he made this last statement, I should have left the hotel within
half an hour or so for good, and the whole episode, so far as I was
concerned, would have been ended. But I could not help noticing a
somewhat unaccountable nervousness in the man's manner, and it flashed