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Tony's this morning," Annie continued, "and walked in on a guy trashing my room. I'd never seen him before, but obviously he'd been there for a while. Obviously you saw it." Annie choked back another sob. "Joe, he tried to kill me! I ran. I've been here, hiding, ever since."
    "He tried to kill you?" Frank questioned. "Did he have a gun — a knife? What did he look like? Can you describe him?"
    "It all happened so fast. I — I don't know."
    "Someone searched your room and threatened to kill you, Annie. You must remember something. Think. Did he have a gun?"
    "No." Annie threw a glance at Joe that seemed to say, "Make your brother leave me alone." She was sending out a signal loud and clear — damsel in distress, damsel in distress.
    "Frank, cool it. You don't have to come on like - a tough cop. Annie's had a bad scare. Let's go so she can clean up. We'll get a soda and talk like civilized people."
    Frank ignored Joe. "We'll get out of here in a minute. Annie, did he pull a knife on you?" He returned his attention to the girl.
    "I — I don't think so."
    "How did he try to kill you? Did he grab you, try to strangle you?" Frank asked.
    "Frank, I was scared." Annie was getting angry at him and his tone of voice. "I — Maybe he didn't try to kill me, but I thought he was going to. He pushed me aside and ran when I walked in on him."
    "Now we're getting somewhere," Frank said, glancing at Joe. "What did the man look like, Annie?"
    "I don't know. He — he was tall. Really tall."
    And quick, Frank added to himself. That is, if it was the same guy who startled him in Phil's room. It wasn't much to go on, but it was something. Whoever had been looking for Phil obviously knew that Annie had some connection to him.
    At this point, though, there was only one thing that Frank was perfectly certain of. Whatever was going on, Annie was scared. Frank had seen pure fear before, and recognized it now in the girl's eyes. Maybe he had been too hard on her with his questions. After all, he hadn't noticed anything when he was surprised by what seemed to be the same attacker. Anyway, no matter so much he wished Joe wasn't involved with her - he was. And now, so was Frank. They had to help her.
    "Annie, I think you should know that the police suspect that Phil Sidler was a thief." Frank realized he might be telling Annie something she already knew. "In fact, he's been connected to gang of jewel thieves that has been active in the New York area for some time. Now, we think that because you knew Phil, and someone knows you knew him, you may be in very real danger."
    "What should I do, Frank?" Annie clung to Joe's hand. "I'm scared to death." She turned wide eyes on Frank. "You'll help me, won't you?" She looked lost and childlike.
    "You know we will, Annie."
    "I don't know anything about Phil Sidler," Annie said. "I mean, not recently."
    "When was the last time you saw him?" Joe asked. Frank was glad to hear Joe switch to a more businesslike tone.
    "I — I can't remember." Annie frowned. "I did visit his mother before I came to Bayport. That would have been, let's see, just over a month ago."
    "When had his mother last seen him?" Frank asked as he led the way back upstairs to Annie's apartment.
    "She said she hadn't seen him in a long time, ·but she made me read a letter that Phil had written to her." Annie paused as if wondering whether or not to go on. "She — well, she always wanted Phil and me to stay together. She was urging me to go find Phil."
    "Did you look at the address on the letter? Where was Phil when he wrote it?" Frank continued to press for information.
    "I glanced at it, since his mother kept insisting I look at it. I think it was a Hundred-eleventh or - twelfth Street, something like that. In New York City."
    "It's not much to go on. But I found a matchbook cover outside Phil's apartment. It came from a bar on Amsterdam Avenue, way uptown. I think I'm going to take a little trip to the city. And I think, Annie, that I'd better