“’Course I’m right,” the guard said, chewing steadily.
“Yes of course, good night,” Oscar said.
He walked down the steps of the police station trying not to hurry. He forced himself to walk casually, carefully, until he was a block from the building. Then he began to walk rapidly, but he hadn’t taken a dozen steps before a hand grasped his arm.
He stopped and turned guiltily to a man of his own height, who wore a black beard and dark glasses under a floppy slouch hat.
“What luck?” this man asked tensely. “Did he have any money?”
Oscar tried to keep his relief from showing in his face. He realized that this bearded, dark-glassed fellow was his other impersonator, the one who had moved in on Agatha; and he also realized that this man was mistaking him for his confederate, Oscar the First.
“Well?” the fellow repeated impatiently.
Oscar was thinking rapidly. He knew now that the only person who might help him get rid of his impersonators was the person responsible for bringing them here in the first place — Madame Obary.
He couldn’t let this twin get out of his hands. He had one locked securely in jail and that meant there was only one at liberty. If he could somehow find that one — the one who had absconded with the money — he’d have them all, and then maybe Madame Obary could do something to send them back to their own times.
“Come with me,” he said to his black-bearded twin.
“Did he have some money?”
“Yes,” Oscar said. “He told me where to go to get it.”
He hailed a cab and hustled the other inside and gave the driver Miss Brown’s address. This last was like an inspiration from Heaven. He hadn’t a friend in the world, except Miss Brown. If she wouldn’t help him, there was no hope...
Chapter V
She answered the door herself, and her pretty face clouded as she saw the two bearded strangers standing in the hall.
“What do you want?” she asked. “You aren’t selling cough drops, are you?”
“We came from Oscar Doodle,” Oscar said. “He said you were a friend of his.”
“Come in,” Miss Brown said quickly. She closed the door hastily and led them into her small, daintily furnished living room. “What about Oscar?” she asked.
Oscar hesitated. He couldn’t reveal himself or Oscar the Second would be suspicious. So he said, “I can’t tell you everything right now, but we are his friends and he wants us to stay here for a few days with you.”
Miss Brown looked helplessly about the small apartment.
“Well, certainly,” she said, “but I don’t know where I’m going to put you. Maybe you can take my bedroom and I’ll sleep here on the couch.”
“That’s fine,” Oscar said. “Could you show us your bedroom now? We’d like to get to sleep.”
“But it’s only eight o’clock,” Miss Brown said, looking at him in astonishment.
“I know,” Oscar said, “but we’ve had a long day. And we need our rest if we’re going to help Oscar.”
“Come with me then,” Miss Brown said.
She led them into her bedroom, which was prettily furnished in pink and blue. There was one single bed.
“One of you will have to sleep on the floor,” she said.
“That will be fine,” Oscar said, shoving her gently toward the door. “Good night.”
“Good night,” Miss Brown said dubiously. She closed the door and left them alone.
“What was the reason for this?” Oscar the Second said. “And where’s the money?”
“We need a place to stay, don’t we?” Oscar said. “The money,” he lowered his voice and glanced over his shoulder at the closed door, “is under the bed.”
“Under the bed?”
Oscar nodded impressively.
“You get it and I’ll keep a watch for the girl.”
Oscar the Second smiled enthusiastically and dropped to his knees.
“This is wonderful,” he said, sticking a hand under the bed.
“It’s going to be,” Oscar said.
“I don’t feel a thing,” Oscar the Second said plaintively.
“Don’t worry, you will,” Oscar said. He gazed tenderly at his fist and swung mightily...
Five minutes later, he opened the door and walked quickly into the living room. He had removed his wig, glasses and hat.
“Oscar!” Betty cried. She scrambled from her chair with a flash of silken legs and ran to his side.
“Betty,” Oscar murmured, taking her in his arms awkwardly.
“How did you get out of jail?” Betty asked wonderingly. “And who are those two men in the bedroom?”
“Sit down, my dear,” Oscar said, “and I’ll tell you everything.”
When he finished his story Betty’s eyes were shining.
“I think you’re just wonderful,” she murmured. Her face suddenly sobered. “But how about the other man in the bedroom? The other twin you’ve been talking about?”
“I bound him securely with the cord from your bathrobe and locked him in the closet,” Oscar said. “He’s on tap until we need him. Now we’ve got to find the one who absconded with the money and then locate Madame Obary. It’s a big job and I haven’t the faintest idea where to start.”
Betty chewed vigorously on her lower lip.
“I think I can find Madame Obary,” she said. “Agatha would know, wouldn’t she?”
Oscar slapped his thigh.
“Of course she would. I hadn’t thought of that. You’re wonderful, Betty.”
“I’ll get her address from Agatha and go to her, tell her you’ve got to see her and bring her back here tonight,” Betty said. “Will that be all right?”
“That much is all right,” Oscar said, “But we still are missing one of the twins. And he happens to be the most important one of the bunch because he has the money.” He shook his head gloomily. “He’s probably a thousand miles from here now.”
“Maybe not,” she said. “Remember he’s a stranger here. He wouldn’t know where to go.”
“By gosh, you might be right,” Oscar said. “But where can I go to look for him?”
“How about your apartment?” Betty asked. “That’s the only place he knew in the city other than Agatha’s. And he certainly wouldn’t go back there.”
“But the police are watching my apartment,” Oscar protested. “I’d be picked up if I went there.”
“Maybe the police have gone. Remember the police think Oscar Doodle is in jail. Possibly they’ve relaxed their watch.”
“It’s worth a chance,” Oscar said, with sudden determination. “I’ll get started immediately.”
“And so will I,” said Betty. “If everything works out all right we’ll be back together, all our problems solved in a few hours.”
“That’s right,” Oscar said brightly, then his cheer faded and he added gloomily, “if everything works out all right.”
Chapter VI
He reached his apartment a half-hour later. To his intense relief the police had gone. They had torn the place upside down, looking for the missing money, but the disrupted apartment was like a glimpse of Heaven to Oscar.
The place was completely empty. He checked through the four small rooms, even looking under the bed, but he found no one.
His thoughts were churning helplessly as he sat down in his easy chair and tried to figure out what to do next. He couldn’t just start looking for his pilfering twin. That would be like trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack. The man might be anywhere, and in spite of Betty’s optimism, he still felt that the fellow had left the city and was miles away by this time.
His nerves suddenly jumped as he heard the sound of a key in the door.