Warrington had been inclined to argue the matter at first, but Garrick of course quickly prevailed, the more so because Warrington realised that in his condition he was anything but an adequate body-guard for her if something unexpected should happen.

“Oh—­I had a call the other day,” reported Warrington as an afterthought before hanging up the receiver.  “It was from McBirney.  He says one of his unofficial scouts has told him of seeing a car that might have been mine up this way lately.”

Garrick acquiesced to the information which, to us, was not new.  “Yes,” he said, “there have been several such reports.  And, by the way, that reminds me of something.  You will have to put at our disposal one of your cars down here.”

“Go as far as you like.  What do you want—­a racer?”

“Why—­yes, if it’s in perfect condition.  You see, we may have to do some unexpected sleuthing in it.”

“Go as far as you like,” repeated Warrington, now thoroughly aroused by the latest development of the case.  “Spare nothing, Garrick—­nothing.  Curse my luck for being laid up!  Every dollar I have is at your disposal, Garrick, to protect her from those scoundrels—­damn them!”

“Trust me, Warrington,” called back Garrick.  “I give you my word that it’s my fight now.”

“Garrick—­you’re a brick,” came back Warrington as the conversation closed.

“Good heavens, Guy,” I exclaimed when he hung up the receiver after calling up Warrington’s garage and finding out what cars were available, “Are we going to have to extend operations over the whole State, after all?”

“We may have to do almost anything,” he replied, “if our scientific murderer tries some of his smooth kidnapping tricks.  It’s possible that McBirney may be right about that car being up there.  Certainly we know that it has been up there, whether it is now or not.”

“And Herman wrong about its being in the city?” I suggested.  “Well, one guess is as good as another in a case like this, I suppose.”

It had been a great relief to get back to our rooms and live even for a few minutes like civilised beings.  I suggested that we might have a real breakfast once more.

I could tell, however, that Garrick’s mind was far away from the thought of eating, and that he realised that a keen, perhaps the keenest, test of his ability lay ahead of him, if he was to come out successfully and protect Violet Winslow in the final battle with the scientific gunman.  I did not interrupt him.

CHAPTER XVI

THE POISONED NEEDLE

Over a still untasted grapefruit Garrick was considering what his next move should be.  As for me, even this temporary return to a normal life caused me to view things in a different light.

There had been, as the Chief and the Boss had hinted at in their conversation, a wave of hysteria which had swept over the city only a short time before regarding what had come to be called the “poisoned needle” cases.  Personally I had doubted them and I had known many doctors and scientists as well as vice and graft investigators who had scouted them, too.