ould pass the corner in a moment.

"Do you know where he lives?" Rick asked the captain.

"Not on this side of town. He lives out in the district toward the
main road."

"Any guesses about where he might be heading?"

"Maybe Jake's Grill. It's this way and I've seen him there."

Rick directed Jerry to go on to the next corner and wait. Then he
turned and watched the corner they had just passed. If the mate kept
straight on the side street, they would go around the block. If he
turned down the street they had taken, they would simply round the
corner again.

The mate turned and came after them.

"Around the corner," Rick directed. "Cap'n, where is this Jake's
Grill?"

"If you'd turned left instead of right just then," Cap'n Mike replied
as Jerry finished the turn, "you'd have been about at it. It's halfway
down the block."

Rick made a quick decision. "Okay, here's where we split up. I'll get
out and go to Jake's. The rest of you keep trailing him. If he goes
into Jake's, turn around and park at the next corner where you can see
the entrance. If he doesn't, follow him and pick me up later."

As they nodded assent, he got out of the car and waved Jerry on, then
he walked swiftly in the opposite direction. He crossed the street
from which they had just turned, and caught a glimpse of the mate from
the corner of his eye. The man was still walking rapidly. Rick paid
no attention to him. He walked at a moderate pace down the street,
pausing once to look in a shop-window. A side glance showed him the
mate, still coming. Rick resumed walking and came to Jake's Grill, a
shabby sort of place with only a half dozen customers. He walked in
without hesitation and took a seat at the counter.

The counterman came up and wiped the counter clean in front of him
with a rag that might have been white once upon a time. "What'll it
be?"

"Coffee," Rick said. He was in a good position, because the back of
the counter was lined with a flyspecked mirror through which he could
see the whole restaurant.

The mate pushed the door open and paused at the entrance. He reached
in his pocket and brought out a crumpled handful of bills and some
change. He counted the change, then searched the pocket for more.
There was none. He started for the counter.

He must need more change. For what? Rick's quick survey of the place
showed him a phone booth in one corner. Quickly, as the mate
approached, he fished out a dollar and thrust it at t