The situation was dire. They were looking for a missing person. It was somebody that he cared about, and it was Rob's sister. Even if she was a different Mary who had a sister of her own, and not a brother.
He still had to stifle a laugh.
Johnny bit down hard on the inside of his cheek to keep his snicker at bay. He affected the anger again and continued down the steps. He managed to slide by without the madam seeing him. The office wasn't hard to find. It also wasn't locked.
Rifling around a bit got him a list of names in a round about way. He copied down things from a ledger that looked like the wages of the girls currently working, and another that looked like what the madam was making out of all of it. The latter list had names on it that the other didn't. He made sure to indicate which were which. He tucked his bit of scrap paper into his pocket and went back to the stairs.
This time he paused so he could let Rob know that they were getting close to getting out of there. That the hour they'd paid for was almost up. Just in case the madam should happen to turn and see him, Johnny made sure that the signal was hidden in another action. When he was certain Rob was paying attention, Johnny reached up to rake his hair off his ear and pointed his thumb toward the door.