Ben laughed. "No, it's mostly boring-a lot of waiting." He got up from the bar stool. "Say, how is it you never said anything to the police about this man?"
The bartender shrugged his shoulders. "Just never thought about it, and ... well, no one asked."
"Well, thank you very much, Ned, and if you think of anything else, would you please call David Wilson. He'll know how to get in touch with me."
"Sure thing Mr. Peterson. I sure hope you can find out what happened. Do you think she's still alive?"
It was Ben's turn to shrug his shoulders. "Don't know, but I hope so, Ned, I sure do hope so."
Ned agreed with a solemn nod of his head.
The next thing Ben did, was to check all the motels in the area. The only possibilities were the Saxon Inn, where he was staying, and he'd learned the man hadn't stayed there, so that left the Hi-Way Inn out on route 302.
It turned out to be a shabby place, run by a little old man who complained about the weather, but who did remember a man who had stayed there during the time in question.
"Let me see." he said as he went through a disorderly pile of registration slips. Finally he pulled one out. "Ah, here it is. Yep, Smith, John Smith. He stayed Wednesday to Sunday." He held the slip up to his face and peered at it closely. "And it wasn't New York, it was New Jersey. Got the license number right here."
"May I see that?" asked the detective.
The old man held out the slip of paper, and Ben copied the name and license number down in his notebook.
"Say, ... that's funny."
Ben looked up. "What's that?"
"Well, Mr. Smith wrote in a notebook like that too. I saw him. Sometimes he would sit in his car before going into the room and write in a little notebook just like that. Never had the chance to ask him what he was writing."
"Hmmm, that's very interesting." said Ben thoughtfully. He put his own notebook away and shook the old man's gnarled hand. "Well, thank you for all your help."
Ben decided to go right from the Hi-Way Inn to David Wilson's farm, which was coincidentally not too far from the motel, to fill him in on what he had learned so far. When he arrived at the farm, David showed him to the study, where a roaring fire warmed the room.