"There goes his mate now," Cap'n Mike said. "Must have been at the hearing." He pointed to a slender man in a cap and lumberjack's shirt who was crossing the street in front of town hall. "Think he told you all he knows?" Rick asked. Cap'n Mike rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Don't know. Maybe he did, and again maybe not. Chick's a quiet one. Never says much and there's no way of telling what goes on inside his head." "Let's follow him," Scotty suggested. Jerry looked at him. "What for?" "For lack of anything else to do," Scotty said. "Can't tell. We've nothing to lose, anyway." Rick watched the mate reach the opposite sidewalk, then stand uncertainly for a moment, looking back across the street. Then, evidently satisfied, he started off at a brisk walk. It was almost as though he had looked to see if anyone were coming after him, Rick thought. "Scotty's right," he said quickly. "Let's go after him." Jerry started the car and pulled away from the curb. He grinned at Rick. "Good thing it's Saturday. No paper until Monday morning, so I've plenty of time. But tell me what to do. I'm green at this business." "Go slow," Rick said. "Watch him." The mate reached a corner, looked behind him, then turned down the side street. "Go after him," Rick directed. "Go right on by him and don't anyone look at him. Cap'n, better crouch down. He knows you, but he doesn't know the rest of us." Jerry swung into the side street and picked up speed. From the corner of his eye Rick saw the mate walking rapidly. He told Jerry to turn right at the next corner and to slow down. The blocks were short; the mate would 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."