A low, rich voice said, “Ye-e-ss?”

“Miss Morton? Mike Shayne calling. I just came in and found your message-”

“This is Miss Lally speaking,” the voice interrupted. “Miss Morton’s secretary. I heard her being paged.” She paused, and Shayne thought he detected a faltering, uncertain quality when she asked, “Did you say you’re Mr. Shayne?”

“Michael Shayne,” he said impatiently. “Where is Miss Morton? I found a memo of three urgent calls from her on my desk.”

“Did you try her room?”

“Of course I tried her room before having her paged. Where can I reach her?” he demanded irritably.

“Please, Mr. Shayne-just a moment.” Her voice rose to a higher pitch, with a hint of terror.

He could hear a mumbling of voices close to the phone through a hand not quite tight over the mouthpiece; then his bushy red brows shot up in surprise at hearing a familiar masculine voice say: “Mike? Tim Rourke.”

“What’s doing over there, Tim?”

“You’d better come over, Mike.” The reporter sounded half tight, but deadly serious. “Do you know why Miss Morton called you this afternoon?”

“No. I’ve been fishing all day. I found her message when I came in.”

“Where are you now?”

“At my office.”

“Good,” said Rourke. “Miss Lally and I will wait in the cocktail lounge.”

Shayne pressed a button to break the connection and swiftly dialed another number, setting his jaw and frowning as he waited. Timothy Rourke was an old friend, and Shayne knew he was not easily upset. What the devil was a reporter from the Miami News doing-?

He snapped his fingers, suddenly remembering Sara Morton. Lucy’s spelling of the first name had thrown him off, and he had been too absorbed with the get-out-of-town notes to identify her immediately when he saw the printed name on the message. Rourke had done a human interest story on her in the Sunday News- her exploits in crime-reporting on the national scene. There were pictures of a slender and vitally beautiful woman-thirty-five, perhaps, with sharp, intelligent eyes and distinctive features. Sara Morton was practically a legend, a roving reporter for a national syndicate who was feared by the underworld and criminals in high places.