The narrator is looking for an assistant to help him prepare for his meeting with Mr. Bledsoe. He's worried that he's going to run into the wrong people, and that he won't be able to find the right one. He also worries that the people who are suspicious of the phantom are going to be suspicious of him as well. He figures that they're going to find out that he was in love with her four years ago. The narrator's not happy about that. He thinks that it's her fault that she didn't tell him the whole truth.