“Glad you came,” she added after a moment. “You can go with me to hunt up Chief Krome. He promised me that shrimp creole recipe.”
“Yeah! Sure, we want it for that picnic tomorrow.”
“They say the only way you ever get a recipe out of Krome is to go after it. He looks too easygoing to let the mild matter of a promise like that weigh on his mind.”
“Sure is nice of you Canteen girls to go down on the beach and fix that supper for us tomorrow. Ned Miller’s looking forward to it, too. You sure lifted his countenance, Kit.”
Kitty flushed. “Oh, I guess I got as big a kick out of it as he did.” There was an awkward pause and she looked about for something to change the subject. Finally she nudged Brad’s arm and whispered, “Take a look over in the south corner at those chess players.”
Brad glanced at them and whistled softly. “The trail grows warmer, Kitty.”
“Plenty. But we’ll save that till later. But when you see two suspected ones hobnobbing it begins to look as though something is brewing.”
An hour before closing time Kitty saw the chess players leave their board and go out. They hadn’t patronized the Snack Bar all evening.
That was one night Kitty was glad when it was time to go home. She had had no opportunity for a private talk with Brad for some time, and she had much on her mind. At the hospital they left Hazel at her door and took the elevator down to the basement.
“Surely am glad you came along, Brad,” said Kitty. “I wouldn’t like to be hunting up Chief Krome at this hour of the night by myself.”
There was no one in sight when they got off the elevator at the basement floor. “I’ve never been down here before,” Kitty remarked, as she followed Brad toward the Chief Cook’s quarters.
“Quite a nifty arrangement,” Brad explained. “Extending out front this wing of the hospital is a platform running right down to a dock over the water. Supply boats come almost right up to the building. Saves an awful lot in transportation of fuel and food.”
Kitty felt no particular interest in what Brad said. She was eager to get the recipe from Krome and return to the street where she and Brad could talk without fear of being overheard. Brad knocked on Krome’s door several times, but got no answer.