
The trip proved a safe one. On the third floor, Parron nervously unlocked the door of 312 and sprang
into the room, his revolver drawn. He pawed for the light switch; failing to find it, he darted across the
room.
Stumbling against a chair, he blundered into a bureau, where he halted, panting, at sight of a face that
rose from the gloom.
It was a haggard face, pale in the dusk; a well-formed face that showed a trim mustache and sleek black
hair. The face was Parron's own.
Sight of himself in the bureau mirror brought a laugh from Parron's lips. He fumbled for a lamp. His face
looked less hunted when the lamp glow filled the room.
Drawing the window shades, the dark-haired man looked about him. Deciding that no intruders had been
in the place, Parron tiptoed to a closet door and yanked it open.
With the same move, he covered the closet with his .32 revolver. Another laugh drifted from his lips
when he saw that the closet was empty. Stretching, Parron reached eagerly to the shelf, brought down an
oblong dispatch box of thin tinny metal.
The box was locked. Parron made no attempt to open it. He simply laid it on the bureau, then looked
toward the telephone. He hesitated at making a call from the hotel room, but finally decided to do so.
The number that he called had a Long Island exchange.
Parron recognized the voice that answered; but, in his turn, he used a tone that was different from his
own. He spoke in quick, clipped fashion, and to complete the vocal disguise, he asked:
"Am I speaking to Mr. Renstrom? To Mr. Albert Renstrom?"
Receiving the affirmative reply that he actually expected, Parron pretended to doubt the other speaker's
identity. Finally ending the bluff, he came down to business.
"All right, Mr. Renstrom," announced Parron rapidly. "I'm the man who sent you the letter that contained
the key. I'm willing to send the box, too, if you're interested."
A low, earnest voice reached Parron's ear. Renstrom was interested; deeply so. He was ready to
cooperate in any way possible. He had read the letter thoroughly, and would abide by its terms.
"It's a deal, Mr. Renstrom," decided Parron. "You'll have the box inside an hour. But remember - you're
to hold it until ten o'clock, as I specified in my letter -"
RENSTROM was interrupting with assurances. Smiling as he listened, Parron ended the phone call,
tucked the dispatch box under his arm and stole from the hotel room.
He used the stairway instead of the elevator, and took a rear exit from the lobby. Spying a cab on the
rear street, Parron hailed it and gave the driver Renstrom's address.
As the cab swung along, Parron studied an airplane schedule, choosing a plane that left Newark Airport
at half past eight. If he missed that one, he could take another at nine fifteen. Where they went didn't
matter to Parron. He was tapping a well-filled wallet in his inside pocket. His trip was going to be a long
one.
It took the cab about half an hour to reach the Renstrom residence on Long Island. Telling the driver to
wait, Parron alighted and went through a gate between high hedges. The porch light was on; as he neared