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Page 71
"I've got another plan," said Mr. Emberg.
"What is it?"
"Do you think anyone else knows who Retto is? I mean anyone on the
pier who saw him hurt?"
"I think not. Captain Tantrella might, but other reporters are not
likely to connect him with the case."
"Then this is what I'm going to do. I'll use the story of the
accident separate from the Potter story. We'll say an unidentified
man was run down on the pier. If he has a fractured skull he'll not
be able to tell who he is, and he has probably taken good care that
there are no papers in his clothes by which his name can be learned.
"If we state that the injured man is the mysterious Retto, who is
mixed up in the Potter case, we'll have every reporter in New York
camping out at that hospital waiting for a chance to get the
information from him. If we keep quiet we may be able to get it
ourselves without any of the others knowing it. We'll try that way,
Larry. It's a risk, but you've got to take risks in this business."
The young reporter admired the generalship of his city editor, who
could thus plan a magnificent beat. Larry saw the feasibility of the
plan. If he kept his information to himself no one would know but
what the injured man was a stranger in New York, and that he was
connected with the Potter case would be farthest from the thoughts
of any reporters who were working on the missing millionaire story.
"You must camp on his trail, Larry," Mr. Emberg went on. "As soon as
you hear from the hospital people that he is in shape to talk, get
in to see him. You can truthfully claim to be a friend and
acquaintance, for you once helped to save his life. If you get a
chance to talk to him, ask where Potter is, and let us know at once.
We'll get out an extra, if need be. Now hurry over to the hospital
and let us hear from you as soon as possible. Get a good story and a
beat."
"I only hope I can," murmured Larry, as he left the telephone booth
and started for the hospital to which Retto had been taken.
He had a slight acquaintance with the superintendent of the
institution, and when he explained his errand the official agreed to
let Larry in to see the man as soon as the nurses and surgeons had
finished dressing his injuries.
"How is he?" asked Larry.
The superintendent called over a private telephone connected with
the ward where Retto had been taken:
"How is the patient just brought in from the pier? Comfortable, eh?
That's good."
Then he turned to Larry:
"I guess you can go up soon," he added. "Can you give us his name,
and some particulars? He was unconscious when he came in," and the
superintendent prepared to jot down the information on his record
book.
This was a complication Larry had not foreseen. If he gave the
superintendent the fugitive's name, any other reporters who came to
the hospital to inquire about the injured man would at once connect
Retto with the Potter mystery, and the _Leader's_ chance for a beat
would be small indeed. What was he to do? He decided to take the
superintendent partly into his confidence.
"I know the name he goes by," he said, as the beginning of his
account, "but I do not believe it is his right one. I think it is an
alias he uses."
"Never mind then," the superintendent interrupted, much to Larry's
relief. "If it's a false name we don't want it."
"I believe it is," Larry added, and he was honest in that statement,
for he felt that Retto was playing some deep game, and, in that
case, would not be likely to use his right name.
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