Passing unnoticed down the aisle, Wentworth's eyes darted here
and there in search of a place of concealment, until at length he took
up a position close beside McNabb's private office, the door of which,
he noted with satisfaction, stood slightly ajar.
Watching his opportunity, Wentworth slipped unnoticed into the private
office, closed the door softly behind him, and sank comfortably into
McNabb's desk chair.
A gong sounded, and was repeated, dimly, upon the floors above.
Wentworth could hear the tramp of feet in the aisles as the clerks
poured from the building through a door that gave on to a side street.
In a few minutes the rush was over, and then they came scatteringly,
singly, and by twos and threes. He could hear the opening of the door,
and the click of the lock as it closed behind them. The footsteps
ceased. He drew his watch and waited. Noises from the street reached
him, sounding far off and muffled, but the store was silent as a tomb.
Twelve minutes ticked away. A footstep sounded. Wentworth could trace
it descending the stairs, and walking the length of an aisle. Followed
the sound of the opening door, and the click of the latch. Some
belated department head, he thought. Possibly Hedin, himself--and he
grinned at the thought.
In the silence of the great building Wentworth suddenly realized that
he was nervous. It was all well enough to plan a thing, but the
carrying out of the plan was quite another matter.
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