All of which gave Owen just enough time to phone the chief, tell him of the sudden change in his plans, and suggest that the countess"s room be searched during her absence.
"Tell New York to have some one pick up Stefani as soon as she arrives,"
Williams concluded. "I"m going to renew my acquaintance with her en route, find out where she"s staying, and frame an excuse for being at the same hotel. But I may not be able to accompany her there, so have some one trail her from the station. I"ll make any necessary reports through the New York office."
Just after the train pulled out of Baltimore the Countess Stefani saw a young and distinctly handsome man, whose face was vaguely familiar, rise from his seat at the far end of the car and come toward her. Then, as he reached her chair he halted, surprised.
"This is luck!" he exclaimed. "I never hoped to find you on the train, Countess! Going through to New York, of course?"
As he spoke the man"s name came back to her, together with the fact that he had been pointed out as one of the eligible young bachelors who apparently did but little and yet had plenty of money to do it with.
"Oh, Mr. Williams! You gave me a bit of a start at first. Your face was in the shadow and I didn"t recognize you. Yes, I"m just running up for a little shopping. Won"t be gone for more than a day or two, for I must be back in time for the de Maury dance on Thursday evening. You are going, I suppose?"
Thankful for the opening, Williams occupied the vacant chair next to hers, and before they reached Havre de Grace they were deep in a discussion of people and affairs in Washington. It was not Williams"s intention, however, to allow the matter to stop there. Delicately, but certainly, he led the conversation into deeper channels, exerting every ounce of his personality to convince the countess that this was a moment for which he had longed, an opportunity to chat uninterruptedly with "the most charming woman in Washington."
"This is certainly the shortest five hours I"ve ever spent," he a.s.sured his companion as the porter announced their arrival at Manhattan Transfer. "Can"t I see something more of you while we are in New York?
I"m not certain when I"ll get back to Washington and this glimpse has been far too short. Are you going to stop with friends?"
"No--at the Vanderbilt. Suppose you call up to-morrow morning and I"ll see what I can do."
"Why not a theater party this evening?"
"I"m sorry, but I have an engagement."
"Right--to-morrow morning, then," and the operative said good-by with a clear conscience, having noted that one of the men from the New York office was already on the job.
Later in the evening he was informed that the countess had gone directly to her hotel, had dressed for dinner, and then, after waiting in the lobby for nearly an hour, had eaten a solitary meal and had gone back to her room, leaving word at the desk that she was to be notified immediately if anyone called. But no one had.
The next morning, instead of phoning, Williams dropped around to the Vanderbilt and had a short session with the house detective, who had already been notified that the Countess Stefani was being watched by Secret Service operatives. The house man, however, verified the report of the operative who had picked up the countess at the station--she had received no callers and had seen no one save the maid.
"Any phone messages?"
"Not one."
"Any mail?"
"Just a newspaper, evidently one that a friend had mailed from Washington. The address was in a feminine hand and--"
"Tell the maid that I want the wrapper of that paper if it"s in the countess"s room," interrupted Williams. "I don"t want the place searched for it, but if it happens to be in the wastebasket be sure I get it."
A moment later he was calling the Countess Stefani, presumably from the office of a friend of his in Wall Street.
"I"m afraid I can"t see you to-day," and Sylvia"s voice appeared to register infinite regret. "I wasn"t able to complete a little business deal I had on last night--succ.u.mbed to temptation and went to the theater, so I"ll have to pay for it to-day." (Here Williams suppressed a chuckle, both at the manner in which the lady handled the truth and at the fact that she was palpably ignorant that she had been shadowed.) "I"m returning to Washington on the Congressional, but I"ll be sure to see you at the de Maurys", won"t I? Please come down--for my sake!"
"I"ll do it," was Owen"s reply, "and I can a.s.sure you that my return to Washington will be entirely because I feel that I must see you again. Au revoir, until Thursday night."
"On the Congressional Limited, eh?" he muttered as he stepped out of the booth. "Maybe it"s a stall, but I"ll make the train just the same.
Evidently one of the lady"s plans has gone amiss."
"Here"s the wrapper you wanted," said the house detective, producing a large torn envelope, slit lengthwise and still showing by its rounded contour that it had been used to inclose a rolled newspaper.
"Thanks," replied Williams, as he glanced at the address. "I thought so."
"Thought what?"
"Come over here a minute," and he steered the detective to the desk, where he asked to be shown the register for the preceding day. Then, pointing to the name "Countess Sylvia Stefani" on the hotel sheet and to the same name on the wrapper, he asked, "Note everything?"
"The handwriting is the same!"
"Precisely. The countess mailed this paper herself at this hotel before she left Washington. And, if I"m not very much mistaken, she"ll mail another one to herself in Washington, before she leaves New York."
"You want it intercepted?"
"I do not! If Sylvia is willing to trust the Post-office Department with her secret, I certainly am. But I intend to be on hand when that paper arrives."
Sure enough, just before leaving for the station that afternoon, Williams found out from his ally at the Vanderbilt that the countess had slipped a folded and addressed newspaper into the mail box in the lobby.
She had then paid her bill and entered a taxi, giving the chauffeur instructions to drive slowly through Central Park. Sibert, the operative who was trailing her, reported that several times she appeared to be on the point of stopping, but had ordered the taxi driver to go on--evidently being suspicious that she was followed and not wishing to take any chances.
Of this, though, Williams knew nothing--for a glance into one of the cars on the Congressional Limited had been sufficient to a.s.sure him that his prey was aboard. He spent the rest of the trip in the smoker, so that he might not run into her.
In Washington, however, a surprise awaited him.
Instead of returning at once to Brickley Court, the countess checked her bag at the station and hired a car by the hour, instructing the driver to take her to the Chevy Chase Club. Williams, of course, followed in another car, but had the ill fortune to lose the first taxi in the crush of machines which is always to be noted on dance nights at the club, and it was well on toward morning before he could locate the chauffeur he wanted to reach.
According to that individual, the lady had not gone into the club, at all, but, changing her mind, had driven on out into the country, returning to Washington at midnight.
"Did she meet anyone?" demanded Williams.
"Not a soul, sir. Said she just wanted to drive through the country and that she had to be at the Senate Office Building at twelve o"clock."
"The Senate Office Building?" echoed the operative. "At midnight? Did you drop her there?"
"I did, sir. She told me to wait and she was out again in five minutes, using the little door in the bas.e.m.e.nt--the one that"s seldom locked. I thought she was the wife of one of the Senators. Then I drove her to Union Station to get her bag, and then to Brickley Court, where she paid me and got out."
The moment the chauffeur had mentioned the Senate Office Building a mental photograph of Senator Lattimer had sprung to Williams"s mind, for the affair between the countess and the Iowa statesman was public property.
Telling the chauffeur to wait in the outer room, the operative called the Lattimer home and insisted on speaking to the Senator.
"Yes, it"s a matter of vital importance!" he snapped. Then, a few moments later, when a gruff but sleepy voice inquired what he wanted:
"This is Williams of the Secret Service speaking, Senator. Have you any doc.u.ments of importance--international importance--in your office at the present moment?"
"No, nothing of particular value. Wait a minute! A copy of a certain report to the Committee on Foreign Relations arrived late yesterday and I remember seeing it on my desk as I left. Why? What"s the matter?"
"Nothing--except that I don"t think that report is there now," replied Williams. "Can you get to your office in ten minutes?"
"I"ll be there!"
But a thorough search by the two of them failed to reveal any trace of the doc.u.ment. It had gone--vanished--in spite of the fact that the door was locked as usual.