"Want your breakfast sent up, sir?" asked the boy. "It's after ten
o'clock."
Vincent followed the boy's suggestion and phoned for the morning meal to be
sent up. Then he opened the package.
It contained shirts, socks and other apparel, with a new suit of clothes.
He examined these articles and was amazed to find that all were his exact size.
The stranger must have made a perfect estimate of Vincent's proportions in the
dark of the automobile!
Breakfast arrived after Vincent had dressed and shaved, using a safety
razor he had found in the valise. Then he sat by the window and stared
speculatively at the sky line of Manhattan. What next? Well, he would wait and
learn.
A half hour passed. Then the phone bell rang. He answered it eagerly; but
was disappointed when he did not recognize the voice of the stranger of the
preceding night's adventure. It was a man's voice speaking, however, calling him
by name, and talking in an easy tone.
"Mr. Vincent?" the person said. "This is the jeweler. I have a message for
you."
The word "message" made Vincent become suddenly alert. The voice was
talking slowly now, and certain words came in a slight emphatic drawl.
"Your WATCH was sent to another MAN by mistake. We expect to have another
IN very soon; perhaps by NEXT Tuesday. It will be delivered to your ROOM."
The message was forming in Vincent's mind. He did not reply.
"Was my message clear?" came the question.
"Yes," Vincent replied.
He hung up the receiver and repeated the stressed words slowly and softly
to himself:
"Watch - man - in - next - room."
Vincent chuckled. It was an order, and it was up to him to obey.
He had grandly ordered cigars with his breakfast, so he lighted a perfecto
and smoked for a while.
Then he began to wonder about the next room, the occupant of which he was
to watch.
There should be two rooms next to his - one on each side. Vincent went into
the hallway. No, the message left no doubt. His own room was a corner one; the
only door near his in fact, it was right alongside and was numbered 1417.
There was no one in the hallway. Vincent listened at the door of the next
room, but heard no sound. That didn't change the instructions, however.
It was up to him to locate the man who had room 1417, and to watch that
person's activities. The best thing to do was wait and listen.
He went back in his own room and left the door ajar; then stretched out on
the bed and began to read the morning paper.
CHAPTER III
THE MAN IN THE NEXT ROOM
Time was becoming rather boring to Harry Vincent. It was three o'clock in
the afternoon; he knew this, because at noon a bell boy had arrived with a
