Page "mystery" Paragraph 696

Men from the Third Detective District, Eighteenth Precinct, had the longest, the most tedious, job.

At the Hotel Dumont there had, at the time in issue, been twenty-three overnighters, counting couples as singular.

These included, as one, Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Payne, who had checked in a little after noon the day before, and had not checked out together.

But Gardner Willings was not included ; ;

he had been at the Dumont for almost a week.

There was, of course, no special reason to believe that the man or woman they sought had stayed only overnight at the hotel.

The twenty-three ( or twenty-two with the Paynes themselves omitted ) provided merely a place to start, and their identification was the barest of starts.

With names and addresses listed, verification came next.

It would take time ; ;

it would, almost inevitably, trouble some water.

( `` I certainly was not at the Dumont last night and my husband couldn't have been.

He's in Boston.

Of course he's in '' -- )