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diff --git a/old/62860-h/62860-h.htm b/old/62860-h/62860-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index a9e87be..0000000 --- a/old/62860-h/62860-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9864 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Hidden Foes, by Nicholas Carter. - </title> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -.p-1 {margin-top: -0.25em;} -.p1 {margin-top: 1em;} -.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} - -/*Modified horizontal rules to fix ePub display issue*/ -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -/*End modified horizontal rule CSS*/ - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - -/*Table format*/ -td.tableft1{ text-align: left; vertical-align: top; text-indent: -0.25em; padding-left: 1.3em;} -td.tableft2{ text-align: left; vertical-align: top; text-indent: -0.75em; padding-left: 1.3em;} -td.tableft{ text-align: left; vertical-align: top; text-indent: -1.3em; padding-left: 1.3em;} -td.tableftb{ text-align: left; vertical-align: top; text-indent: -0.75em; padding-left: 1.3em;} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; -} /* page numbers */ - -.boxcontents{ - max-width: 17em; - padding: 1em; - border: 0em solid black; - margin: 0 auto; -} - -.pcontents{ - text-align:left; - text-indent:-2em; - padding-left:2em; - margin-top: 0.1em; - margin-bottom: 0.1em; -} - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -.boxit{ - max-width: 14em; - padding: 1em; - border: 0.5em double; - margin: 0 auto; } - -.boxit1{ - max-width: 24em; - padding: 1em; - border: 0.4em solid black; - margin: 0 auto; } - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -/* Images */ -img {max-width: 100%; height:auto; } - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; - max-width: 90%; -} - -.figcenter1 { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; - max-width: 40%; -} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - -/*CSS to set font sizes*/ -/*font sizes for non-header font changes*/ -.xxlargefont{font-size: xx-large} -.xlargefont{font-size: x-large} -.largefont{font-size: large} -.mediumfont{font-size: medium} -.smallfont{font-size: small} -.boldfont{font-weight:bold} -.cheaderfont{font-size:medium} - -/*CSS to force a page break in ePub*/ -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} - -p.nobreak{ - page-break-before: avoid; - padding-top: 0; -} - -h1.nobreak{ - page-break-before: avoid; - padding-top: 0; -} - -h2.nobreak{ - page-break-before: avoid; - padding-top: 0; -} - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hidden Foes, by Nicholas Carter - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Hidden Foes - A Fatal Miscalculation - -Author: Nicholas Carter - -Release Date: August 6, 2020 [EBook #62860] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIDDEN FOES *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover." /> -</div> - -<div style="padding-top:2em"> -<div class="transnote"> -<h2 style="margin-top: 0em">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2> - -<p>The Table of Contents was created by the transcriber and placed -in the public domain.</p> - -<p><a href="#TN_end">Additional Transcriber’s Notes</a> are at the -end.</p> -</div></div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="boxcontents"> -<p class="xlargefont center boldfont">CONTENTS</p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Chapter I. A Mysterious Fatality.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Chapter II. Nick Carter’s Opinion.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">Chapter III. A Friend Worth Having.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Chapter IV. The Man of Last Resort.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">Chapter V. Another Strange Case.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Chapter VI. Doctor Devoll.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Chapter VII. Grounds for Suspicion.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Chapter VIII. The Yellow Coupon.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Chapter IX. Suspicions Verified.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Chapter X. The Deeper Mystery.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Chapter XI. The Angle of Reflection.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Chapter XII. Nick Carter’s Deductions.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">Chapter XIII. The Man With a Mask.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">Chapter XIV. A Marathon Pursuit.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">Chapter XV. Professor Karl Graff.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">Chapter XVI. Vain Inquiries.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">Chapter XVII. Craft and Foresight.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">Chapter XVIII. Nick Declares Himself.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">Chapter XIX. Patsy on the Trail.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">Chapter XX. Birds of Prey.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">Chapter XXI. Stolen Pearls.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">Chapter XXII. Where the Tide Turned.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">Chapter XXIII. The Wheel Within.</a></p> -<p class="pcontents"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">Chapter XXIV. The Last Resort.</a></p> -</div></div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="center largefont boldfont">NICK CARTER STORIES</p> - -<p class="xxlargefont center boldfont">New Magnet Library</p> - -<p class="center largefont boldfont">Price, Fifteen Cents <span style="padding-left:1em"><em>Not a Dull Book in This List</em></span></p> - -<p>Nick Carter stands for an interesting detective story. The fact -that the books in this line are so uniformly good is entirely due to -the work of a specialist. The man who wrote these stories produced -no other type of fiction. His mind was concentrated upon the creation -of new plots and situations in which his hero emerged triumphantly -from all sorts of troubles and landed the criminal just where -he should be—behind the bars.</p> - -<p>The author of these stories knew more about writing detective stories -than any other single person.</p> - -<p>Following is a list of the best Nick Carter stories. They have been -selected with extreme care, and we unhesitatingly recommend each of -them as being fully as interesting as any detective story between cloth -covers which sells at ten times the price.</p> - -<p>If you do not know Nick Carter, buy a copy of any of the New -Magnet Library books, and get acquainted. He will surprise and delight -you.</p> -</div> - -<p class="center boldfont"><em>ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT</em></p> - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Ads"> -<tr><td class="tableft">850—Wanted: A Clew</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">851—A Tangled Skein</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">852—The Bullion Mystery</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">853—The Man of Riddles</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">854—A Miscarriage of Justice</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">855—The Gloved Hand</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">856—Spoilers and the Spoils</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">857—The Deeper Game</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">858—Bolts from Blue Skies</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">859—Unseen Foes</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">860—Knaves in High Places</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">861—The Microbe of Crime</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">862—In the Toils of Fear</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">863—A Heritage of Trouble</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">864—Called to Account</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">865—The Just and the Unjust</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">866—Instinct at Fault</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">867—A Rogue Worth Trapping</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">868—A Rope of Slender Threads</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">869—The Last Call</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">870—The Spoils of Chance</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">871—A Struggle With Destiny</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">872—The Slave of Crime</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">873—The Crook’s Blind</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">874—A Rascal of Quality</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">875—With Shackles of Fire</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">876—The Man Who Changed Faces</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">877—The Fixed Alibi</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">878—Out With the Tide</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">879—The Soul Destroyers</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">880—The Wages of Rascality</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">881—Birds of Prey</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">882—When Destruction Threatens</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">883—The Keeper of Black Hounds</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">884—The Door of Doubt</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">885—The Wolf Within</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">886—A Perilous Parole</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">887—The Trail of the Finger Prints</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">888—Dodging the Law</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">889—A Crime in Paradise</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">890—On the Ragged Edge</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">891—The Red God of Tragedy</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">892—The Man Who Paid</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">893—The Blind Man’s Daughter</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">894—One Object in Life</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">895—As a Crook Sows</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">896—In Record Time</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">897—Held in Suspense</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">898—The $100,000 Kiss</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">899—Just One Slip</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">900—On a Million-dollar Trail</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">901—A Weird Treasure</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">902—The Middle Link</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">903—To the Ends of the Earth</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">904—When Honors Pall</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">905—The Yellow Brand</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">906—A New Serpent in Eden</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">907—When Brave Men Tremble</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">908—A Test of Courage</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">909—Where Peril Beckons</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">910—The Gargoni Girdle</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">911—Rascals & Co.</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">912—Too Late to Talk</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">913—Satan’s Apt Pupil</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">914—The Girl Prisoner</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">915—The Danger of Folly</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">916—One Shipwreck Too Many</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">917—Scourged by Fear</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">918—The Red Plague</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">919—Scoundrels Rampant</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">920—From Clew to Clew</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">921—When Rogues Conspire</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">922—Twelve in a Grave</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">923—The Great Opium Case</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">924—A Conspiracy of Rumors</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">925—A Klondike Claim</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">926—The Evil Formula</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">927—The Man of Many Faces</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">928—The Great Enigma</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">929—The Burden of Proof</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">930—The Stolen Brain</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">931—A Titled Counterfeiter</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">932—The Magic Necklace</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">933—’Round the World for a Quarter</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">934—Over the Edge of the World</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">935—In the Grip of Fate</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">936—The Case of Many Clews</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">937—The Sealed Door</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">938—Nick Carter and the Green Goods Men</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">939—The Man Without a Will</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">940—Tracked Across the Atlantic</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">941—A Clew From the Unknown</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">942—The Crime of a Countess</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">943—A Mixed Up Mess</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">944—The Great Money Order Swindle</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">945—The Adder’s Brood</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">946—A Wall Street Haul</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft">947—For a Pawned Crown</td><td class="tableftb">By Nicholas Carter</td></tr> -</table></div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter1"> -<img src="images/titlepage.jpg" alt="Title page." /> -</div></div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h1 class="nobreak">HIDDEN FOES</h1> - - -<p class="center largefont p1" style="line-height:2.5"><span class="mediumfont">OR,</span><br /> -A FATAL MISCALCULATION</p> - -<p class="center largefont p1"><span class="smallfont">BY</span><br /> -NICHOLAS CARTER</p> - -<p class="center" style="margin-bottom:2em">Author of the celebrated stories of Nick Carter’s adventures, which<br /> -are published exclusively in the <span class="smcap">New Magnet Library</span>, conceded<br /> -to be among the best detective tales ever written.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/publisher_icon.jpg" alt="Publishers icon." /> -</div> - -<p class="center p2">STREET & SMITH CORPORATION<br /> -<span class="smallfont">PUBLISHERS</span><br /> -79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York -</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="boxit"> -<p class="center">Copyright, 1917<br /> -By Street & Smith Corporation</p> - -<p class="center">Hidden Foes</p> -</div> - -<p class="center p2">(Printed in the United States of America)</p> - -<p class="center">All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign<br /> -languages, including the Scandinavian.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[5]</span></p> -<p id="CHAPTER_I" class="nobreak center xxlargefont" style="margin-bottom:1em">HIDDEN FOES.</p> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER I.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">A MYSTERIOUS FATALITY.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Nobody had heard the report of a pistol.</p> - -<p>There had been no disturbance; in fact, no audible -altercation, no startling cry for help, or even a groan -of sudden, terrible distress.</p> - -<p>The man lay there as motionless, nevertheless, as if -felled by a thunderbolt. His life had been snuffed -out like the flame of a candle by the fury of a whirlwind. -Death had come upon him like a bolt from the -blue. By slow degrees his face underwent a change—but -it was not the change that ordinarily follows sudden -death, that peaceful calm that marks the end of -earthly toil and trouble.</p> - -<p>Instead, the smoothly shaven skin seemed to shrink -and wither slightly over the dead nerves and lifeless -muscles, and a singular slaty hue that was hardly perceptible -settled around his lips and nostrils, partly dispelling -the first deathly pallor. It was as if the blast -from a furnace, or the searing touch of a fiery hand, -had withered and parched it.</p> - -<p>He was a comparatively young man, not over thirty, -and he was fashionably clad in a plaid business suit. -He was lying flat on his back on the floor of the second-story -corridor of a building known as the Waldmere -Chambers, in the city of Madison.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[6]</span></p> - -<p>Presently the door of one of the several adjoining -rooms was opened and a stylish young woman -emerged. She was clad for the street, and lingered to -lock the door and put the key in her leather hand -bag. Then she turned, and her gaze fell upon the prostrate -man, several yards away and nearer the broad -stairway leading down to the lower floor and the -street door.</p> - -<p>“Good heavens! Is he drunk?” she gasped, shrinking -involuntarily.</p> - -<p>She feared to approach him, though her hesitation -was only momentary. For she heard the tread of -some one on the stairs, obviously that of a man, and -she ventured nearer just as the other appeared at the -top of the stairs, a well-built, florid man of middle -age.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Doctor Perry, look here!” she cried excitedly. -“What’s the matter with this man? Is he drunk -or ill, or what is the——”</p> - -<p>“Well, well, I don’t wonder you ask.” Doctor -Perry approached and gazed down at him. “I don’t -know, Miss Vernon. He appears to be——”</p> - -<p>He stopped short; then crouched and raised the -man’s arm, dropping it quickly. It fell back upon the -floor as if made of clay.</p> - -<p>“Heavens!” he exclaimed, rising hurriedly. “The -man is dead.”</p> - -<p>“Dead!” Miss Vernon echoed, turning pale.</p> - -<p>“Stone dead. Do you know him?”</p> - -<p>“No. I just came from my rooms to go to lunch -and saw him lying here.”</p> - -<p>“Did you hear him fall, or any disturbance, or——”</p> - -<p>“I heard nothing, Doctor Perry, not a sound.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[7]</span></p> - -<p>“We must call a policeman. I will wait here while -you do so. Go down to the street and find an officer.”</p> - -<p>“Won’t it be better to telephone? I can do so in -a moment.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, in that case,” Doctor Perry nodded. -“Hasten.”</p> - -<p>Miss Vernon ran back and entered her rooms, on -the door of which a modest brass plate stated that her -business was that of a manicure and ladies’ hairdresser. -She ran to a telephone in one of the attractively -furnished rooms, crying quickly to the exchange -operator:</p> - -<p>“Give me the police headquarters. Hurry, please! -It’s an emergency case.”</p> - -<p>Seated with Chief Gleason in the latter’s private -office when the telephone call was received in the outer -office was the celebrated American detective, Nicholas -Carter, who had arrived in Madison early that morning -with two of his assistants, and who then was -discussing with the chief the business which had occasioned -his visit, the nature of which will presently -appear. They were interrupted by a police sergeant, -who knocked and entered, saying quickly:</p> - -<p>“A man has dropped dead, chief, in a corridor of the -Waldmere Chambers. Shall I send the ambulance?”</p> - -<p>“What man? Is he known?” Gleason questioned, -swinging around in his swivel chair.</p> - -<p>“No, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Who informed you?”</p> - -<p>“A woman telephoned that the body had just been -found. Doctor Perry, the dentist, was watching it -while she telephoned. His office is in the Waldmere -Chambers. Neither of them knew the dead man.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[8]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes, send the ambulance,” Chief Gleason directed. -“You had better go, also, and look into the case. -If——”</p> - -<p>“One moment,” Nick Carter interrupted. “I think -I’ll go with him, chief, if you don’t mind.”</p> - -<p>“What need of that? It is merely a case of——”</p> - -<p>“We don’t know what kind of a case it is, Gleason, -at present,” Carter cut in again. “A sudden death -always warrants more or less suspicion. It is barely -possible that this has some connection with the series -of mysterious crimes that we have been discussing, -and which has finally led you to call on me for assistance. -Be that as it may——”</p> - -<p>“Hang it, Carter, I’ll go with you myself, then,” -Gleason interrupted, rising and taking his cap. “You -may be right, of course, and the chance is worth taking. -You remain here, sergeant, but send along the -ambulance. We’ll take a taxi.”</p> - -<p>Chief Gleason started for the street while speaking, -closely followed by the famous detective, and -they were so fortunate as to find a taxicab just passing -the headquarters building.</p> - -<p>Thus it happened that Nicholas Carter arrived -upon the scene of the sudden fatality scarcely ten -minutes after it was discovered. He was not without -an intuitive feeling, moreover, that he was to -be confronted with a mystery of more than ordinary -depth and obscurity, a case that would tax not -only his rare detective genius, but also his skill, craft, -and cunning in every department of his professional -work.</p> - -<p>“I think, Gleason, that you had better not mention<span class="pagenum">[9]</span> -my name while we are looking into this matter,” he -remarked, as they were alighting from the taxicab.</p> - -<p>“Very well,” Gleason readily assented. “But what -do you expect to gain by suppressing it?”</p> - -<p>“Just what is hard to say at this stage of the -game,” Carter replied. “If all you have told me is -true, however, and Madison is afflicted with a crook -whose crafty work has completely baffled your entire -police department, it may be of some advantage -to me, at least, if he does not immediately learn that -I have been employed to run him down. That would -serve only to put him on his guard.”</p> - -<p>“I see the point,” Gleason nodded. “I agree with -you, too.”</p> - -<p>“The fact has not been disclosed, I understand.”</p> - -<p>“Only to a few members of the force, Carter; -all of whom were ordered to say nothing about it. -They may be trusted.”</p> - -<p>“Very good! If there should be occasion to introduce -me to others, then, present me as Mr. Blaisdell,” -Carter directed. “That is the name under which -I am registered at the Wilton House.”</p> - -<p>“Blaisdell—I’ll bear it in mind.”</p> - -<p>“Come on, then,” the detective added. “We are -none too soon. A crowd is beginning to gather.”</p> - -<p>Their remarks had been made while they were entering -the building. A group of men had collected -at the top of the stairs. They were restrained by a -policeman who had been called in from the street, -and a passageway was hurriedly made for Chief Gleason -and his companion. That the latter was the -famous New York detective, not even the policeman -then suspected.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[10]</span></p> - -<p>The scene in the second-floor corridor was about -what Nick Carter anticipated. Half a score of men -and women had come from the adjoining rooms and -offices and were gazing with mingled awe and consternation -at the lifeless man on the floor. He was -lying where he had fallen. A physician had been -hurriedly summoned and was bending over him, engaged -in making a superficial examination.</p> - -<p>Chief Gleason started slightly when he beheld the -upturned face of the dead man.</p> - -<p>“Good heavens!” he muttered. “It’s Gaston Todd.”</p> - -<p>Carter heard his muttered exclamation. Restraining -him, at the same time furtively watching the -physician, he said quietly:</p> - -<p>“One moment, chief. Who is Gaston Todd? What -about him?”</p> - -<p>“He was born and brought up here,” Gleason replied. -“He had been in the stock brokerage business -for ten years, cashier for Daly & Page. He -was a clubman and a figure in society.”</p> - -<p>“Married?”</p> - -<p>“No. He had a suite in the Wilton House. By -Jove, it’s barely possible that——”</p> - -<p>“What is barely possible?”</p> - -<p>“That you are right.”</p> - -<p>“Right in what respect? Tell me.”</p> - -<p>Carter had noticed the chief’s hesitation, his dark -frown, as if he had started to say something which -discretion quickly led him to withhold. He demurred -only for a moment, however, then explained -with lowered voice:</p> - -<p>“Right, perhaps in thinking there is knavery back -of this. There had been a feeling of bitter rivalry<span class="pagenum">[11]</span> -between Todd and a young local lawyer, Frank Paulding, -who is an exceedingly impetuous and hot-headed -chap. They had an ugly altercation in the Country -Club last night, I have heard, and it is said that they -nearly came to blows. That may have ended it, of -course, though this sudden death of Todd, following -it so quickly——”</p> - -<p>“Is somewhat significant,” Nick Carter put in -quietly. “I agree with you. In what have the two -men been rivals?”</p> - -<p>“For the hand of Edna Thurlow, by far the most -beautiful and accomplished girl in Madison. She inherited -half a million when her father died. Her -mother, Mrs. Mortimer Thurlow, is also very wealthy -and fashionable. She’s the acknowledged leader of -the local smart set. The two men may have met -here this morning. Possibly the fight of last night -was resumed, resulting in——”</p> - -<p>“Let it go at that,” the detective interrupted. “The -physician has ended his examination.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[12]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">NICK CARTER’S OPINION.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Chief Gleason immediately turned and approached -the rising physician, asking a bit brusquely:</p> - -<p>“Well, Doctor Doyle, what do you make of it? -The man is dead?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed, there is no question about that, Mr. -Gleason.”</p> - -<p>“What was the cause?”</p> - -<p>“It appears to be a case of heart disease.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure of it?”</p> - -<p>“One cannot be absolutely sure, Mr. Gleason, without -performing an autopsy,” Doctor Doyle said -blandly, while he wiped his fingers with his handkerchief. -“I feel reasonably sure. There is no wound -that I can discover, nor does there appear to be any -indication of foul play. Yes, I feel reasonably sure -of it,” he repeated.</p> - -<p>“You don’t think, then, that there is any occasion -to notify the coroner?” Gleason said inquiringly.</p> - -<p>“There seems to be none. I have no doubt that -the man died from natural causes. There is no superficial -evidence to the contrary, or any——”</p> - -<p>Doctor Doyle broke off abruptly, his gaze having -fallen upon the detective, who had passed back of -the couple and approached the body.</p> - -<p>Carter then was bending over it, and with his finger -had raised one of Todd’s eyelids. He studied -the ball and pupil for several seconds, then took a<span class="pagenum">[13]</span> -powerful lens from his pocket and inspected the dead -man’s face and lips. He looked up after a moment -and said:</p> - -<p>“I don’t agree with you, doctor. This man appears -to have been a very strong and rugged fellow.”</p> - -<p>“That is true, sir, as far as it goes,” Doctor Doyle -admitted, frowning slightly when his professional -opinion was thus questioned by a stranger.</p> - -<p>“It seems hardly probable that such a man died of -heart disease,” the detective said pointedly. “Nor -do his eyes denote that apoplexy was the cause.”</p> - -<p>“You will have to go deeper, sir, nevertheless, to -find positive evidence of the cause,” Doctor Doyle -said, rather coldly. “Superficial evidence is not absolutely -convincing.”</p> - -<p>“Have you noticed this slight discoloration of the -skin near the mouth and nostrils?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course.”</p> - -<p>“How do you account for that?”</p> - -<p>“Such slight changes immediately after death are -not uncommon,” said the physician. “There may -be a slight settlement of blood in the tissues in that -locality.”</p> - -<p>“You would not attribute it to a blow?”</p> - -<p>“Surely not. There could be no mistaking the -evidence of a violent blow.”</p> - -<p>“But the skin appears to be slightly withered,” -said Carter. “Minute wrinkles are discernible with -my lens, particularly in the thin skin of the lips.”</p> - -<p>“That may be easily explained.”</p> - -<p>“How so?”</p> - -<p>“Death may have been preceded by a sudden terrible<span class="pagenum">[14]</span> -pain, causing a contraction of the lips, and what -may be termed a pinched condition of the nerves and -muscles in that locality. They may not have relaxed -yet, which causes the drawn appearance of the skin -which, you say, is discernible with your lens. No, -I do not wish to examine it more closely. I don’t -think it signifies anything.”</p> - -<p>“I do,” said the detective, rising abruptly. “I -think——”</p> - -<p>“One moment, gentlemen.” The interruption came -from Doctor Perry, the dentist, who still was among -the people then gathered in the corridor. “Here is -Professor Graff, the chemist. His opinion ought to -be valuable in a case of this kind.”</p> - -<p>Nicholas Carter turned to gaze at the man who -then was approaching.</p> - -<p>Professor Graff had come from a room at the rear -end of the corridor, and he appeared surprised that -something unusual had occurred, evidently having -heard none of the disturbance. He was a man of -medium build, somewhat bowed, and appeared to be -about sixty years old. His hair and beard were gray, -his complexion sallow, his expression serious and -reserved. He wore gold-bowed spectacles and looked -as if he might be of German or Swedish extraction. -He was clad for the street, wearing a soft felt hat -and a coat with a cape, a style augmenting his foreign -appearance.</p> - -<p>“Dear me, what has happened?” he said gravely, -while others made way for him to approach. “A -gentleman injured—not dead, is he?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.” Doctor Perry drew him nearer. “He was -found lying here a few minutes ago.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[15]</span></p> - -<p>“I heard nothing. I have just come up from my -laboratory. Why, why, this is Mr. Gaston Todd,” -Professor Graff added amazedly, manifestly shocked -by the discovery. “I cannot be mistaken. I have -seen him frequently in the Wilton House.”</p> - -<p>“There is no question as to his identity,” replied -the dentist, who appeared to be the only person acquainted -with the chemist. “There is a difference -of opinion between Doctor Doyle and this gentleman, -however, as to the possible cause of his death. -They——”</p> - -<p>“Let me explain,” the detective interposed, addressing -the chemist. “It will take me only a few minutes.”</p> - -<p>“Why, yes, certainly,” Professor Graff bowed, regarding -the detective a bit curiously.</p> - -<p>Carter turned again to the body, briefly pointing -out the conditions he already had mentioned, and -then added earnestly:</p> - -<p>“Use my lens. You can see more distinctly.”</p> - -<p>Professor Graff smiled faintly and shook his head.</p> - -<p>“Really, sir, there is no occasion,” he replied. “My -opinion in such a matter is worthless. I know nothing -about such things. I am a chemist, not a physician. -I can subject the physical organs to analysis -and detect poisons, or other foreign substances, perhaps; -but I would not wish to pass upon the conditions -you have mentioned. It seems only reasonable -to me, however, that Doctor Doyle’s opinion ought -to be entirely reliable.”</p> - -<p>“I think he will find it so,” said the latter, as -Professor Graff moved away and descended the stairs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[16]</span></p> - -<p>Nick Carter did not longer argue the point. Instead, -turning to Chief Gleason, he whispered quietly:</p> - -<p>“You had better be governed by my opinion, nevertheless, -and take the necessary steps to insure an -autopsy.”</p> - -<p>“You really think, then, that——”</p> - -<p>“Never mind what I really think. I’ll see you -later and inform you. You will make no mistake, -however, in doing what I direct. Take it from me, -Gleason, this man was—murdered.”</p> - -<p>“Murdered? Why do you——”</p> - -<p>“Hush!” Nick quietly cautioned. “There will be -nothing in immediately disclosing my suspicion. It -will be better to conceal it temporarily. Has this -man a family?”</p> - -<p>“No; no family.”</p> - -<p>“Or relatives who will be likely to interfere?”</p> - -<p>“I think not. I am quite sure of it, in fact.”</p> - -<p>“Very good. Notify the coroner, then, and have -him take the necessary steps to perform an autopsy -later,” the detective directed. “Understand?”</p> - -<p>“Perfectly,” Chief Gleason nodded. “I will see -to it.”</p> - -<p>“And I will see you later, also the coroner, and -explain my position,” Carter added. “Just now I -have something else in view and must get a move on. -Mum’s the word, mind you, until after the autopsy.”</p> - -<p>He did not wait for an answer. He turned away -and quickly departed, leaving his observers wondering -who he was and what he had said, his instructions -having been imparted in subdued and hurried -whispers.</p> - -<p>Returning to the street, Carter consulted a directory<span class="pagenum">[17]</span> -in a drug store, and five minutes later he entered -the Gratton Building and approached the office -of the lawyer whom the chief had mentioned. He -listened at the door for a moment, hearing nothing, -and then opened it and entered.</p> - -<p>A tall, clean-cut man of thirty swung around in -his swivel chair from a rolltop desk. He was of -light complexion, with a smoothly shaved, attractive -face, and frank blue eyes. He was alone and looked -a bit curiously at his visitor, who, glancing sharply -around the well-equipped office, appeared somewhat -surprised, and said:</p> - -<p>“Pardon me. Are you Mr. Paulding?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I am, sir.”</p> - -<p>“I thought I saw Mr. Gaston Todd come in here -a moment ago. Was I mistaken?”</p> - -<p>“Humph!” Paulding straightened up with an expressive -grunt. “Yes, sir, very much mistaken. Todd -never comes here, nor would it be wise for him to -do so. I would fire him out, head, neck, and heels, -before he could open his mouth. You may repeat -that to him, if you like and are a friend of his. I -would say the same to Todd himself.”</p> - -<p>Nick laughed, thrusting his hands into his pockets, -and surveyed with quizzical eye the somewhat impulsive -speaker.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’m no friend of Todd,” he replied. “I know -him only by sight. There is a little matter, however, -about which I would like to question him.”</p> - -<p>“All right, in that case, and I’ll do all I can to -help you,” Paulding said more agreeably. “I saw -him in the Waldmere Chambers about fifteen minutes<span class="pagenum">[18]</span> -ago. He still is there, perhaps, if you care to -seek him.”</p> - -<p>“In the rooms of one of the tenants, or——”</p> - -<p>“No. He was in the second-floor corridor,” Paulding -interrupted. “He appeared to be waiting for -some one. I passed him when I came out.”</p> - -<p>“Did you speak to him?”</p> - -<p>“Not by a long chalk. I speak to Todd only under -protest and when it cannot be avoided. That’s -all I can tell you. You may find him there, perhaps.”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter had accomplished his object. He was -a keen physiognomist and could read faces and characters -much less frank and outspoken than those of -this lawyer. He now was absolutely sure, in fact, -that Paulding knew nothing about Todd’s death, nor -had even heard of it. He smiled and replied:</p> - -<p>“Much obliged. Sorry to have troubled you.”</p> - -<p>“No trouble at all, sir.”</p> - -<p>“May I ask, Mr. Paulding, what took you to the -Waldmere Chambers?”</p> - -<p>“I went there to confer with a client who——” -Paulding broke off abruptly, gazing more sharply -at the detective, then frowningly added: “But why -do you ask why I went there? What is it to you? -It strikes me that you are deucedly inquisitive.”</p> - -<p>“I agree with you,” said Nick, coolly placing a -chair near that of the lawyer and sitting down. “There -is serious occasion for it, Mr. Paulding, as I now will -explain: I happen to know that Mr. Gaston Todd -has not left that second-floor corridor in the Waldmere -Chambers. He was found dead there immediately -after you left the building.”</p> - -<p>“Dead—found dead!” Paulding stared amazedly.<span class="pagenum">[19]</span> -“What are you saying? Do you really mean it—that -Gaston Todd is—dead!”</p> - -<p>If Nick had had even a lingering shadow of suspicion, -it would have been instantly dispelled by the -expression of the lawyer’s face. It was one that -no man could have feigned, however accomplished -an actor. He bowed and replied:</p> - -<p>“Yes, Mr. Paulding, that is precisely what I mean. -Gaston Todd is dead.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me, I can hardly believe it. It seems utterly -incredible. Found dead, you say——”</p> - -<p>“Exactly. Where you last saw him. He was——”</p> - -<p>“Stop a moment! What do you imply by that?”</p> - -<p>Paulding’s face had changed like a flash. His brows -fell and his eyes took on a threatening gleam and -glitter. He lurched forward in his chair, adding -quickly:</p> - -<p>“Why did you say he was found immediately after -I left the building, and where I last saw him? What -are you insinuating? What are you trying to put -over on me? Why, if you knew he was dead, did -you come here to pretend you were seeking him? Who -the devil are you, that you impose upon me in this -way, implying that I——”</p> - -<p>“Here is my card,” the detective blandly interposed, -tendering it. “You may, perhaps, know me by name.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[20]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">A FRIEND WORTH HAVING.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Nick Carter smiled amusedly when Frank Paulding, -having fairly snatched the card and read it, -straightened up in his chair and stared at him with -almost ludicrous astonishment.</p> - -<p>“Nicholas Carter!” he exclaimed; “the New York -detective! Good gracious!”</p> - -<p>“Is it so very amazing?” the detective asked dryly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, by Jove, it is,” said Paulding, pulling himself -together. “I do, indeed, know you by name, and -who does not? Let the circumstances be what they -may, too, I am very glad to become acquainted with -you. I am not blind, nevertheless, to the fact that -your visit is rather significant; decidedly so, in reality, -in view of your duplicity and covert insinuations -that——”</p> - -<p>“That you know something about Todd’s sudden -death,” Nick put in, checking him. “Don’t let that -annoy you. I did so, Mr. Paulding, only to assure -myself to the contrary. I have succeeded, too, completely.”</p> - -<p>“But what was the occasion?” Paulding questioned. -“I don’t see, Mr. Carter, why you thought I knew -anything about it.”</p> - -<p>“I did not really think so,” Nick said dryly. “I foresaw, -however, what others possibly will think, sooner -or later, and I wanted to look at you and take your -measure before circumstances might make it difficult<span class="pagenum">[21]</span> -for me to do so with absolute certainty. He -is a wise man and keen, you know, who anticipates -coming events.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, I fail to get you, Mr. Carter,” Paulding -said more seriously. “Take my measure, eh? What -others will possibly think? Say, you don’t—you don’t -mean that—that Gaston Todd was killed, do you? -Not that he was—murdered?”</p> - -<p>Nick glanced at the door, to be sure that he had -closed it. He then replied more impressively:</p> - -<p>“I am a stranger to you, Mr. Paulding, but you -will make no mistake in meeting me halfway and taking -my advice. I frequently am a good friend to -have in time of trouble.”</p> - -<p>“I know of none I would rather have,” Paulding -said quickly.</p> - -<p>“That goes, does it?”</p> - -<p>“You bet it goes.”</p> - -<p>“What now passes between us, then, must be strictly -confidential,” said the detective. “You must, moreover, -be governed by my instructions. You will presently -see, I think, that that will be the only wise -course for you to shape. If you are not inclined to -meet me in this way——”</p> - -<p>“But I am,” Paulding cut in earnestly. “I’m not -blind. I now see there is something wrong, Mr. -Carter, and that you are here in my behalf. I would -be more than a fool, sir, if I did not take advantage -of your offer. I promise in advance to do what you -direct.”</p> - -<p>“Very good,” Nick said approvingly. “You will -not regret it.”</p> - -<p>“But how am I in wrong?” Paulding asked anxiously.<span class="pagenum">[22]</span> -“Has a crime been committed? Was Todd -murdered?”</p> - -<p>“I think so,” said the detective.</p> - -<p>“Good heavens! Is it possible that I am suspected -of——”</p> - -<p>“One moment, Paulding, and I will tell you about -it.”</p> - -<p>He then stated the circumstances briefly, in so far -as he had figured in the case, and then added pointedly:</p> - -<p>“You now can see why I wanted to talk with -you, Paulding, and get your measure.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, I see,” Paulding nodded. “But how -did you know that I passed Todd in the corridor just -before he died, or was killed? I saw no one else. -I am sure, too, that no one saw me. How did you -know I had just left there?”</p> - -<p>“For two reasons,” Nick replied. “One, because -you told me so.”</p> - -<p>“I told you so?” Paulding stared perplexedly.</p> - -<p>“In effect,” smiled the detective. “You said you -had passed Todd about fifteen minutes ago, and I -knew that was just about when his body was discovered.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, I see. You are a keen reasoner, Mr. Carter. -You said there were two reasons, however.”</p> - -<p>“The other can be briefly stated: Todd did not -look to me like a man who had dropped dead of any -organic trouble. He looked like a strong and healthful -fellow. I very soon suspected murder; and, after -having been told of your fight with Todd in the -Country Club last night, I reasoned that you had just -met him, perhaps, and been seen by some person -who, for some reason and knowing all of the circumstances,<span class="pagenum">[23]</span> -had taken advantage of them to craftily -kill Todd and fix the crime upon you, assuming that -you had not done it. That’s why I lost no time in -sizing you up from personal observation. I wanted -to do so before you heard of Todd’s death, in case -you were innocent, of which I was quickly convinced. -Have I made it plain to you?”</p> - -<p>“Perfectly plain, Mr. Carter,” Paulding said earnestly. -“I am more than grateful. I don’t know -how I can repay you for your interest in me, a stranger——”</p> - -<p>“Don’t speak of that,” the detective interrupted. -“I am interested in serving justice, mind you, and am -taking what seems to be the best way. I am not -absolutely sure that Todd was murdered. An autopsy -will determine that. If he was, at such a time -and in such a public place, without any disturbance or -any superficial wound, it was accomplished by most -extraordinary means and by a knave of exceeding -boldness and ability, who may be equally as skillful -in hiding his identity and covering his tracks. That’s -why I have tackled the case in the bud, so to speak, -in anticipation of what may follow.”</p> - -<p>“I understand,” said Paulding. “It now is perfectly -plain.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll get right down to business, then, for I wish -you to answer a few questions,” Carter replied.</p> - -<p>“As many as you wish, Mr. Carter, and to the -best of my ability.”</p> - -<p>“Very good. Todd appeared to be waiting for -some one, you have said.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. That was my impression.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[24]</span></p> - -<p>“Do you know for whom, or how long he had -been there?”</p> - -<p>“No, neither.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know of any person whom he visits, who -has rooms or an office in that building?”</p> - -<p>“I do not. He was not the type of man I fancied, -Mr. Carter, and we never have been good -friends.”</p> - -<p>“I was told that he was a popular clubman.”</p> - -<p>“He was, I admit, and there are many who liked -him.”</p> - -<p>“What was the trouble between you last evening?” -the detective inquired. “I was told——”</p> - -<p>“I can tell you in a nutshell,” Paulding interrupted. -“He spoke of a young lady in terms that no gentleman -should have used. I called him down, Mr. Carter. -One word led to another, and we nearly came -to blows. That’s all there was to it, however, for -others interposed and Todd immediately left the clubhouse. -I did not see him again until we met this -morning in the Waldmere Chambers.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know anything against him, so far as -his character and habits are concerned?”</p> - -<p>“Well, no,” said Paulding, after a moment. “He -was somewhat dissipated at times and in with the -fast set. He gambled more or less on the quiet, and -I know he was friendly with other women while -paying attention to——”</p> - -<p>“To Miss Thurlow,” put in Carter, when the lawyer -hesitated. “Her name was mentioned to me, also, -and the fact that a bitter rivalry existed between you -and Todd.”</p> - -<p>“Well, there is some truth in that,” Paulding admitted,<span class="pagenum">[25]</span> -flushing. “Regardless of my affection and -whether she really cares for me, Mr. Carter, I never -considered Todd a fit man for Edna Thurlow. I -would not have permitted him to visit a sister of mine, -if I had one. Edna is young, however; only nineteen, -and it’s not difficult for a man of Todd’s type -to deceive an inexperienced girl. I do not mean by -that, Mr. Carter, that he would not have cared to -marry her. He was out to get her, if possible, -and——”</p> - -<p>“So are you, Paulding, aren’t you?” Nick interrupted. -“Tell me frankly.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed, I am, Mr. Carter, if she’ll have me.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think she will?”</p> - -<p>“I hope so, think so, in fact, though I have not -yet ventured to ask her. Bear in mind, Mr. Carter, -that she is wealthy, prominent socially, and a very -beautiful and accomplished girl, while I am only a -struggling lawyer, bucking up against a hard game, -and with only patronage and income enough to keep -me going. But I’ll make good, all right, and then——”</p> - -<p>“I think you will, Paulding,” the detective again -interposed. “Let it go at that, now, for my time -is limited. I wish to give you a few instructions, -which you must follow to the letter.”</p> - -<p>“I will do so,” Paulding assured him. “You may -rely upon that.”</p> - -<p>“Much may depend upon it,” Carter said impressively. -“As I have said, nevertheless, I am not absolutely -sure that Todd was murdered. Nor, if he -was, am I sure that you will be seriously involved, -or even suspected. I think you may be, however,<span class="pagenum">[26]</span> -for the reason stated, and you must in that case do -precisely what I direct.”</p> - -<p>“I certainly will, Mr. Carter,” Mr. Paulding again -said earnestly.</p> - -<p>“To begin with, then, say nothing about this interview, -or the fact that we have met and that I -am interested in the case,” Nick directed. “Do not -confide in any one, not excepting Miss Thurlow, -even, in case you are arrested and charged with the -crime.”</p> - -<p>“Good heavens! Do you anticipate that?” Paulding -asked anxiously.</p> - -<p>“It is possible, if not probable,” the detective replied. -“You must, in that case, do precisely as if -we had not met. Say not a word about me until I -countermand these instructions. My presence in Madison -is not generally known, and, while looking into -this matter, as well as other business that brought me -here, I may derive an advantage from concealing the -fact.”</p> - -<p>“I understand, and will act accordingly.”</p> - -<p>“You may assert your innocence, employ another -lawyer, get bail if you can, and all that—but not a -word about me.”</p> - -<p>“That goes,” Paulding nodded. “I’ll be as dumb -as an oyster.”</p> - -<p>“Very good,” said Carter, extending his hand and -rising to go. “I will make it a point to see you as -soon as possible, in case you are arrested, but do not -under any circumstances send for me. On the other -hand, do not fear that I will desert you. I shall know -all that is going on and will be hard at work for you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[27]</span></p> - -<p>“That’s good enough for me,” declared Paulding, -warmly pressing the detective’s hand. “You can bank -on me, Mr. Carter, let come what may—as I’m going -to bank on you.”</p> - -<p>“Good enough, then,” the detective added. “We’ll -wait and see how the cat jumps.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[28]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">THE MAN OF LAST RESORT.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Nicholas Carter did not return to the Waldmere -Chambers after his interview with Frank Paulding. -It was not entirely due to his intuitive perception, or -to any evidence definitely involving another, that had -caused him to feel that Paulding had played no part -in the killing of Gaston Todd, and that he might -be possibly the victim of a carefully planned conspiracy.</p> - -<p>It was due in part to what Chief Gleason had told -him earlier that morning, when they were discussing -the business that had brought him secretly to -Madison with his two most reliable assistants.</p> - -<p>Nick saw nothing to be gained by returning to -the Waldmere Chambers, and he hastened to the Wilton -House, instead, going at once to the suite assigned -him, where Chick and Patsy then were waiting for -him.</p> - -<p>“Well, there must be something doing, indeed,” -Chick exclaimed, gazing at him when he entered. -“Has it taken Gleason the entire morning to tell you -why we are needed in Madison?”</p> - -<p>“No, not quite,” Carter replied, taking a chair. -“There is more doing than what Gleason confided -to me, Chick, and I think there may be some connection -between them. Unless I am very much mistaken, -there was a deucedly singular murder committed -about an hour ago.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[29]</span></p> - -<p>“The devil you say!” Chick returned. “Have you -been looking into it?”</p> - -<p>“Superficially.”</p> - -<p>“Tell us, chief,” said Patsy, with immediate interest. -“Why singular?”</p> - -<p>“I will do so presently,” Nick replied. “I first will -tell you why Chief Gleason sent for me. It’s a rather -remarkable story.”</p> - -<p>“A mysterious crime, chief?”</p> - -<p>“Quite a number of them, Patsy.”</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz! We are booked for some hard work, -then, if the local police cannot handle them.”</p> - -<p>“Crimes of what kind, chief?” Chick inquired.</p> - -<p>“The first was committed several months ago,” said -Carter, disposing of the match with which he had -been lighting a cigar. “It was the robbery of a prominent -local banker, named Wagner, whose statements -are entirely reliable.”</p> - -<p>“What were the circumstances?”</p> - -<p>“Briefly stated, he was going home from his club -about nine o’clock one evening, after having dined -there with a friend. He is a well-built, powerful man -of forty, about the last whom a holdup man would -venture to tackle. He wore some valuable jewelry, -however, and he had nearly a thousand dollars in his -pocket, which he wanted to use before banking hours -the following morning.”</p> - -<p>“The crook may have known about it.”</p> - -<p>“Possibly, though Wagner doesn’t think so.”</p> - -<p>“Where was the crime committed?”</p> - -<p>“In the grounds of his own house, a fine residence -in Garside Avenue. He was sauntering up a gravel -walk leading to his front door, when a man came<span class="pagenum">[30]</span> -down from the veranda and approached to meet him. -Wagner did not recognize him, but he naturally inferred -that the stranger had called to see him, and, -not finding him at home, that he was about departing.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” Chick nodded. “That was perfectly -natural.”</p> - -<p>“What followed was quite the contrary,” Carter -remarked dryly. “The stranger stopped directly in -front of him and asked whether he was Mr. Wagner. -He had an unlighted cigar in his mouth, or so Wagner -has stated. The latter replied in the affirmative, -of course, and asked what was wanted.”</p> - -<p>“And then, chief?” queried Patsy.</p> - -<p>“Then came the one singular feature of the case,” -said the detective. “Wagner felt a sensation as if -a breath of air had hit his face. He doesn’t know -where it came from, nor can he explain it, for the -stranger still had the cigar between his lips and his -mouth was closed. Be that as it may, Wagner instantly -felt very numb and confused, and in another -moment he lost consciousness.”</p> - -<p>“Fainted away?”</p> - -<p>“Not quite that, Patsy.”</p> - -<p>“Great guns! What was he up against, chief?”</p> - -<p>“That’s the question,” said Nick. “He was seen -on the gravel walk a little later by a passing policeman, -who hastened to aid him. Wagner still was -unconscious, dead to the world, as he afterward expressed -it when revived by a physician. He had been -robbed of his money and all of his jewelry, and the -thief had disappeared, leaving absolutely no clew -to his identity.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[31]</span></p> - -<p>“He has not been traced, nor any of the jewelry?”</p> - -<p>“Neither.”</p> - -<p>“Is any one suspected?”</p> - -<p>“No.” Nick shook his head. “There have been -numerous other robberies of a like character, and -under similar circumstances, but in no case has any -of the stolen property been recovered, nor a clew -to the criminal been found. The police have been -at work for months on more than a score of such -cases.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove! that’s very peculiar,” Chick said thoughtfully. -“Is the description of the crook the same in -all cases?”</p> - -<p>“Far from it,” Carter replied. “They vary materially.”</p> - -<p>“There must be a gang at work, then.”</p> - -<p>“It appears so.”</p> - -<p>“Did the victim in each case experience the same -sensations as those described by Wagner?”</p> - -<p>“Very similar, though the circumstances were not -always the same. All agree, however, that they suddenly -became unconscious from an unknown cause, -while talking with a person who had accosted them -on one pretense or another. One stock broker was -robbed in that way while alone in his business office. -The police are all at sea, and the community is on -nettles as to who will be the next victim of the mysterious -and elusive plunderers. That’s why Gleason -sent secretly for me to aid him.”</p> - -<p>“How do you size it up, chief?” Patsy inquired. -“What do you make of it?”</p> - -<p>“Well, take the case of Wagner,” Carter replied. -“He is very much mystified by the breath of air he<span class="pagenum">[32]</span> -felt on his face. His assailant’s lips were closed -around a cigar, and Wagner is sure he could not have -exhaled the breath he suddenly felt.”</p> - -<p>“Surely not, chief, in that case,” said Patsy.</p> - -<p>“Don’t be so sure of it,” Carter returned. “When -a man confronts another and has a full-length cigar -between his teeth, the outer end of it may be very -near the other’s face.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true, chief, but what of it?”</p> - -<p>“Suppose it was not a cigar, but made to closely -resemble one?”</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz! I get you,” cried Patsy. “You mean -a tube through which one’s breath might be blown.”</p> - -<p>“I mean a tube, Patsy, which contained something -that may have been forced outward by the man’s -breath, and so directed that Wagner must have inhaled -it,” Carter explained.</p> - -<p>“I see.”</p> - -<p>“Just what it was, being powerful enough to immediately -overcome him, and how the tube was constructed -so that the user would not be affected by -its contents when ejecting it, are open questions.”</p> - -<p>“Do you really think that is how it was done?” -Chick inquired, a bit incredulous.</p> - -<p>“I certainly do,” nodded the detective.</p> - -<p>“Had Gleason thought of that device, or any of the -police?”</p> - -<p>“No, nor did I inform him,” said Carter, smiling -significantly. “Since we are about to investigate these -mysterious cases, which I have decided to do, we may -derive an advantage by not disclosing our suspicions.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” Chick agreed. “That’s good judgment. -It may be, chief, that the crook has discovered<span class="pagenum">[33]</span> -an odorless and very powerful narcotic gas; also various -methods by which he can craftily and quickly -administer it.”</p> - -<p>“Something of that nature, Chick, which also indicates -that he is a man of education, with a knowledge -of drugs and mechanics,” Carter pointed out. -“All this is what leads me to think there may be some -connection between these numerous strange robberies -and the mysterious killing of Gaston Todd this noon, -if an autopsy shows positively that he was murdered.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the case you mentioned?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. I now will tell you about it.”</p> - -<p>The detective proceeded to do so, covering all of -the essential points, both during his observations in -the Waldmere Chambers and his call upon Frank -Paulding.</p> - -<p>“By Jove! this case does have a striking likeness -to the others,” Chick declared, after listening attentively. -“It may be a murder case, as you suspect.”</p> - -<p>“The similarity first led me to suspect it.”</p> - -<p>“Naturally.”</p> - -<p>“There are three other cases, too, about which Gleason -told me, that are fully as peculiar,” Carter added, -knocking the ashes from his cigar.</p> - -<p>“What are they, chief?” questioned Patsy.</p> - -<p>“They involve three girls, or, more properly, young -women, for all are about twenty,” said the detective. -“All were found unconscious in the grounds of the -local hospital.”</p> - -<p>“At the same time?”</p> - -<p>“No. There was an interval of several days between -them.”</p> - -<p>“Found when?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[34]</span></p> - -<p>“About midnight.”</p> - -<p>“Had they been robbed?”</p> - -<p>“No. There was no robbery in either case, nor -has it been learned that an outrage of any kind was -attempted,” Nick explained. “Each of the girls was -first taken to the police headquarters, I understand, -and afterward sent to the hospital, where one of the -physicians soon succeeded in reviving her. She then -was allowed to depart, after stating that she could -not account for her strange condition, nor remember -anything that had befallen her.”</p> - -<p>“By gracious, that is peculiar, chief, for fair,” declared -Patsy, gazing perplexedly.</p> - -<p>“More strange, perhaps, and somewhat significant, -is the fact that not one of these girls could afterward -be found by the police, when they tumbled to -a possibility that the three cases might have some relation -to the many mysterious robberies.”</p> - -<p>“Their names are not known?”</p> - -<p>“So Gleason states. It appears that they were not -learned by the hospital authorities.”</p> - -<p>“The whole business does seem strange, indeed,” -Chick said more gravely. “It looks as if we were -up against a very curious and complicated mess.”</p> - -<p>“And crooks of extraordinary craft and cunning,” -put in Patsy earnestly.</p> - -<p>“I agree with both of you,” said Nick, glancing -at his watch. “Come, we are due for a late lunch. I -will make further inquiries this afternoon, and then—well, -I will have decided by evening how we can -begin our work. The autopsy to-morrow may show -us the way.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[35]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">ANOTHER STRANGE CASE.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>The steeple bell of a church within a stone’s throw -of Hamilton Square struck twelve. The successive -strokes fell with monotonous reverberations on the -midnight air, breaking with solemn resonance the -quietude of that reputable residential section of Madison.</p> - -<p>For Hamilton Square, though not far from the -business district, was in an attractive part of the city, -to which the extensive tract of land had been donated -years before, in part for a public square and the remainder -for the site, park, and gardens of the now -locally famous Osgood Hospital, established by the -donor, and still largely supported by the income from -his bequests.</p> - -<p>The last stroke of the bell scarce had died away -to a customary stillness, when a burly policeman, one -James Donovan, appeared on one side of the square -flanking the hospital grounds, moving along near -the iron fence and pausing now and then to gaze -across the broad avenue at the opposite dwellings, -the most of which were shrouded in darkness.</p> - -<p>Presently, approaching a gate in the fence, he muttered -to himself:</p> - -<p>“I may as well have another look. It’s a hundred -to one there has been nothing doing, though, or I -would have heard it. This evidently isn’t one of the<span class="pagenum">[36]</span> -nights for their devilish doings. Hang it, I’m not -sure of it!”</p> - -<p>He had stopped short, taking out his electric lamp -and flashing the beam of light on the ornamental -gate. A padlock had been removed and was lying -on the gravel walk within. Nearly at his feet, discovered -after a brief search, was a piece of black -thread.</p> - -<p>“By thunder, I was wrong,” Donovan muttered, -gazing around and scowling perplexedly. “Have my -ears gone back on me? Has this scurvy trick been -turned again? Some one has been through this gate -since I tied the thread on it. I’ll darned soon find -out.”</p> - -<p>Quietly lifting the latch, Donovan opened the gate -and entered with quickened steps. He did not follow -the gravel walk, which led toward an end door -in a wing of the hospital some fifty yards away. Instead, -he strode straight across the broad lawn, -through the deeper gloom under the trees, until he -came to one, the drooping branches of which formed -a sort of arbor in a secluded part of the extensive -estate.</p> - -<p>There was an iron seat under it, and the policeman -flashed his light in that direction. It fell upon -a motionless figure in a huddled position on one end -of the seat—the figure of a young woman.</p> - -<p>“Another, by thunder, as sure as I’m a foot high,” -Donovan gasped audibly. “In spite of my vigilance, -too, and in the same place and condition as the others. -Sure, this beats me.”</p> - -<p>Donovan drew nearer and bent over the motionless -girl. She was about nineteen, with a slender,<span class="pagenum">[37]</span> -neatly clad figure, a dark skirt and Eton jacket. Her -head was bowed forward, and her hat was somewhat -awry. She was of dark complexion, but the ghastly -pallor of her cheeks caused the policeman to catch -his breath. He bowed over her, listening, and presently -could hear the faint breathing of the unconscious -girl.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, I feared for a moment she was gone,” -he said to himself, straightening up. “I’ll try to raise -the sergeant. He said he’d show up about midnight.”</p> - -<p>Donovan walked away toward the gate again and -blew his whistle, a shrill, sinister sound on the night -air. Thrice he had to sound it, and then he heard -a distant reply. Several moments later hurried footsteps -fell on the pavement, and an officer in plain -clothes appeared at the gate.</p> - -<p>“That you, Jim?” he called quietly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.” Donovan’s hand went to his helmet. -“I thought I might get you, Sergeant Brady, as you -said you’d drop around about this time.”</p> - -<p>“Something doing?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, the same old job.”</p> - -<p>“The devil you say! Have you seen no one, nor -heard anything?”</p> - -<p>“Not a soul, sir, nor a sound,” Donovan declared, -approaching the gate. “Faith, I think my eyes and -ears have gone to the bad. I was round here twenty -minutes ago. The padlock then was on the gate, -and this thread, tied so that the gate could not be -opened without breaking it, was just as I had fixed -it. It’s a cinch, now, that this is the gate the rascals -have been using. The chief thought, you know, that<span class="pagenum">[38]</span> -the padlock might have been taken off only for a -blind. The breaking of the thread settles it.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a clever scheme, Jim,” Brady said approvingly. -“Yes, yes, undoubtedly that’s the gate. -Another woman, you say?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, and on the same iron seat.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll have a look at her.”</p> - -<p>“This way, sergeant.”</p> - -<p>“The fourth in a fortnight.” Brady spoke with -a growl while he and his companion strode across -the lawn. “I don’t understand it. I’ll be hanged, -Jim, if I can make head or tail to a mystery of this -kind. I don’t see why it’s done, or who could quit -a winner.”</p> - -<p>“Faith, it’s as black as dock mud,” Donovan vouchsafed -grimly. “Here she is, sergeant, dead to the -world.”</p> - -<p>Brady stopped and gazed down at the inanimate -girl—the fourth who had been found on this same -seat, at the same time, and in the same condition, -within two weeks.</p> - -<p>“Humph!” Brady grunted, rubbing his furrowed -brow perplexedly. “Mystery is no name for it.”</p> - -<p>“Shall I send in an ambulance call?”</p> - -<p>“No. It’s another case for the hospital. There’s -nothing in taking her to headquarters and then bringing -her back here, as was done in the other three -cases.”</p> - -<p>“Sure, sergeant, that’s right.”</p> - -<p>“Go to that wing door and raise one of the attendants. -Tell him what’s up, Jim, and have him -bring out a litter. I’ll wait here until you return.”</p> - -<p>Donovan hurried away and vanished around a corner<span class="pagenum">[39]</span> -of the wing. He returned in about five minutes, -accompanied by one of the hospital attendants, bearing -a folded litter, which he hastened to open and -on which he and the policeman placed the girl.</p> - -<p>While they were doing so, Brady discovered a small -leather hand bag on the ground near the seat. He -picked it up and tossed it on the litter.</p> - -<p>“Go ahead,” he commanded, a bit gruffly. “Get -a move on. I’ll go with you.”</p> - -<p>His companions picked up their burden and obeyed. -They trooped across the grounds and around the -end of the wing, bringing up at a door over which -a red lantern was burning. It was opened by an orderly -within, and Donovan said familiarly:</p> - -<p>“Here’s another for you, Bill, of the same sort. -Faith, they seem to drop out of the sky.”</p> - -<p>“They more likely are sent up from the infernal -regions, judging from the character of the job,” returned -the orderly. “What’s the matter with you -guns, anyway, that tricks of this kind can be repeated -under your very eyes? Bring her this way.”</p> - -<p>He conducted them through a dimly lighted corridor -and into an adjoining room, in which there were -several unoccupied cots, on one of which Donovan -and the attendant placed the girl.</p> - -<p>The orderly turned to a wall telephone and summoned -a night nurse, who entered before he had -fairly hung up the receiver.</p> - -<p>“What physician is here, Agnes?” he asked curtly.</p> - -<p>“Doctor Green has been here since eight o’clock,” -said the nurse. “I just saw a light in Doctor Devoll’s -private room. I think he came in about ten minutes -ago.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[40]</span></p> - -<p>“Notify him,” said the orderly. “He can restore -her, most likely, since he was so successful in the -other three cases. Notify him at once.”</p> - -<p>The woman turned to the telephone to speak to -Doctor Devoll, while the orderly set about making a -few necessary preparations to receive him, apparently -disregarding the presence of the two policemen.</p> - -<p>Sergeant Brady, who had been gazing with a suspicious -frown at the girl on the cot, turned to the -attendant who had assisted in bringing her in.</p> - -<p>“Doctor Devoll is the head physician, isn’t he?” -he asked quietly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” said the attendant. “He runs the place.”</p> - -<p>“The big finger, eh?”</p> - -<p>“That’s what.”</p> - -<p>“I have heard he’s very skillful.”</p> - -<p>“None better, sir.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder——” Brady dropped his voice to a -whisper: “I wonder whether there’s a telephone I -can use on the quiet. I want to talk with Chief Gleason, -at headquarters.”</p> - -<p>“Sure,” the attendant nodded. “There’s one in the -operating room. No one is there now. I’ll show -you.”</p> - -<p>“Half a minute,” Brady muttered. Then, turning -to Donovan, he whispered: “Have an eye on the -girl, Jim, and keep your ears open when she revives. -Get me?”</p> - -<p>“Sure!”</p> - -<p>“I’ll return in time to leave with you.”</p> - -<p>Donovan nodded, and Brady immediately departed -with the attendant. Only five minutes had passed -when Doctor Devoll entered the room, bringing a<span class="pagenum">[41]</span> -leather medicine case and quickly approaching the cot -on which lay the inanimate girl, whose jacket and -the front of her silk shirt waist had been opened by -the nurse.</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll presented quite a striking picture, -when he paused and gazed down at her in the bright -light of an electric bulb. He was close upon sixty -and of medium height, but very slender. His thinness -was accentuated by a tight-fitting black frock -coat, the skirts of which hung to his knees. His -head was almost entirely bald. All that remained to -show that he was a son of Esau was a fringe of close-cut, -gray hair around the base of his skull, and a -single silver-white tuft above his high forehead.</p> - -<p>He was smoothly shaven, his features wasted and -wan, his thin lips of a dull, grayish tint, instead of -a wholesome red, as if the blood in his veins had -lost its crimson hue. His nose was long, his eyes a -cold blue and wonderfully penetrating. As he stood -there with his slender hands behind him, his fingers -interlocked, there was something really quite sinister -in his aspect. He looked not unlike a bird of prey -brooding over his victim.</p> - -<p>This was immediately dispelled, however, when he -looked up at the nurse and said, with a remarkably -soft and ingratiating voice:</p> - -<p>“She appears to be in the same condition, Agnes, -as the others. She was found on the same seat, did -I understand you to say?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, doctor.” The nurse bowed to him across -the narrow cot. “This policeman discovered her. -He had her brought in, sir, instead of taking her to -the station house, as before.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[42]</span></p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll turned and eyed Donovan narrowly -for a moment; then suavely inquired:</p> - -<p>“Is your beat in this locality?”</p> - -<p>“It is, sir,” said Donovan respectfully. “I’m the -night patrolman, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Are you the officer who previously found the other -girls who were brought here under similar circumstances?”</p> - -<p>“I am, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Did you see any one to-night, or hear anything, -that might shed a ray of light on this mystery?”</p> - -<p>“I did not, sir,” said Donovan. “I’m all in the -dark. I’m blessed if I can fathom how and when -the girl went there. I had my eyes open all the evening -because of the other cases, but how——”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, no doubt.” Doctor Devoll checked him -with a deprecatory gesture. “I must apply for more -night men in this district, if these extraordinary episodes -are to continue. The cause must be found and -the culprits discovered. That is, of course, if it’s a -case for the police.”</p> - -<p>“She may be a drug fiend, sir, or perhaps——”</p> - -<p>“It is useless to speculate,” Doctor Devoll interrupted. -“I could learn nothing from the others. I -will try this one.”</p> - -<p>He opened his medicine case while speaking, taking -from it a small sponge and a slender vial filled -with an amber-colored fluid, a few drops of which -he poured on the sponge. Then he held it with -his long, lean fingers near the nostrils of the unconscious -girl.</p> - -<p>The effect appeared almost magical. A tinge of -color instantly dispelled her ghastly paleness. She<span class="pagenum">[43]</span> -caught her breath with a gasp and a convulsive heave, -as if some potent stimulant had suddenly filled her -lungs, and Doctor Devoll quickly drew away the -sponge and replaced it in his case, hastily closing it.</p> - -<p>He scarcely had done so when, with a low moan, -the girl opened her eyes and stared around, then at -her observers, with the mute wonderment of one -awakening amid strange surroundings and in view -of unfamiliar faces. They seemed to alarm and -further stimulate her, for she started up, gasping -amazedly:</p> - -<p>“Where—where am I? Who are you? What has -happened?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be alarmed, my girl.” Doctor Devoll’s thin -face took on an assuring smile. “You are in no danger. -You are in the casualty ward of the Osgood -Hospital.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[44]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">DOCTOR DEVOLL.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Patrolman Donovan drew a little nearer to the cot, -that nothing said or done should escape him. The -orderly had departed, and the announcement by the -physician seemed to surprise and further mystify the -reviving girl.</p> - -<p>“A hospital—in a hospital?” she repeated perplexedly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, you were brought here by this policeman, -who found you on a seat in the hospital grounds,” -Doctor Devoll informed her. “You appeared to have -fainted or to have been drugged.”</p> - -<p>“I cannot believe that I fainted,” said the girl. “I -don’t understand it. It seems to me as if I had just -awakened from a deep sleep.” She gazed around, -still dazed and deeply puzzled; then asked abruptly: -“What time is it?”</p> - -<p>“It is after midnight, nearly one o’clock.”</p> - -<p>“One o’clock! Oh, I must go home! I must go -home!”</p> - -<p>She started up from the cot, and stood beside it. -She appeared to have regained her strength. Her -color had returned, her eyes were normal, though -expressive of mingled uncertainty and dread.</p> - -<p>“Do you feel quite well again?” Doctor Devoll -asked, with sharper scrutiny. “Are you able to go -home?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[45]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, perfectly able. I must go home; I must -go at once.”</p> - -<p>“Before leaving you must give me a few particulars -about yourself,” interposed the physician. “Where -were you when you were overcome? Tell me what -you last remember.”</p> - -<p>“I am not sure,” she replied, with a manifest effort -to comply. “I went to the Alhambra, a moving-picture -theater. I had come out and was walking along -Main Street when I——”</p> - -<p>She stopped short, glancing apprehensively at the -policeman. A deep flush suddenly mantled her cheeks. -She hesitated, obviously embarrassed and somewhat -frightened, and Doctor Devoll asked somewhat -sharply:</p> - -<p>“Why did you stop? What were you about to -say?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know—nothing more, sir, I think,” she -faltered. “I have told you all I know—all I can remember.”</p> - -<p>Donovan suspected that she was lying, but he did -not venture to interfere, and Doctor Devoll said quite -sternly:</p> - -<p>“Don’t try to conceal anything, my girl. What -happened to you in Main Street? Can’t you remember?”</p> - -<p>“Only that I was there, sir; nothing more,” she -insisted. “I was alone and on my way home when -suddenly everything became a blank. I don’t know -what followed, what I did, or where I went. I remember -nothing more until I awoke in this place and -saw you bending over me. I am telling the truth, -sir, and——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[46]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t question your honesty, my girl,” Doctor -Devoll interposed less austerely. “What is your -name?”</p> - -<p>“Mabel Smith, sir,” she admitted, after a moment.</p> - -<p>“Where do you live?”</p> - -<p>“I board at No. 81 Flint Street with Mrs. Morton, -a widow. I must go home. She will be very anxious -about me and may—did I have anything when -I was brought in here? I mean my purse.” She -digressed abruptly; then stopped again, with a somewhat -guilty expression in her troubled eyes.</p> - -<p>There was a small table near the foot of the cot, -on which the nurse had placed the girl’s hat and a -small, knit purse. The physician glanced at them, -replying:</p> - -<p>“Here is your purse, Miss Smith. Was there anything -else?”</p> - -<p>“I—I think I had a small leather bag,” she replied.</p> - -<p>“That appears to be missing.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not sure,” she quickly added. “I don’t know -positively that I had it with me. If I did, sir, I -suppose I must have dropped it.”</p> - -<p>Of the three men who had brought her in from -the seat on which Donovan had found her, Sergeant -Brady was the only one who had seen the small leather -bag, which he had picked up from the ground and -placed on the litter. But Sergeant Brady then was -absent with the attendant, and no further search was -made for the missing bag, for the girl said indifferently:</p> - -<p>“It don’t matter, sir. I may not have had it. May -I go home? I really must. You have no right to detain -me here.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[47]</span></p> - -<p>Donovan did not hear what then passed between -Doctor Devoll and his mysteriously afflicted patient. -The ward door had been opened, and Sergeant Brady -beckoned to the policeman and drew him into the corridor, -closing the door.</p> - -<p>“Well, what has she said for herself, Jim?” he -inquired, gazing grimly at the policeman.</p> - -<p>“Faith, it’s the same old story, sergeant,” Donovan -replied significantly. “She can’t tell what happened to -her. She don’t know enough to last her overnight.”</p> - -<p>“Humph!” Brady grunted. “I suspected as much.”</p> - -<p>“She seems to be on the level, though.”</p> - -<p>“Level be hanged!” Brady spoke with a derisive -snarl. “None of them was on the level, Jim, or we -would have been able to trace them and find some -solution of the mystery. Not one of them could be -found after she left the hospital.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true, sergeant. Sure, it does seem a bit -strange.”</p> - -<p>“I got Chief Gleason on the phone by calling up -his house. He had gone home from headquarters. -I reported the case to him, as he directed, and—say -nothing about this, mind you.”</p> - -<p>“Not a word, sergeant.”</p> - -<p>“It’s not known by many that the big dick is in town, -and he don’t want it known at present,” Brady impressively -explained. “Nicholas Carter is at the Wilton -House under the name of Blaisdell.”</p> - -<p>“Faith, is that so?” Donovan’s face lighted. “Sure, -he can dig out the truth, sergeant, if any man can.”</p> - -<p>“Gleason said he would telephone to him at once -and send him here to size up the case,” Brady added. -“He ought to show up within twenty minutes. You<span class="pagenum">[48]</span> -return to your beat. I’ll stay here and detain the -girl until Carter comes.”</p> - -<p>“All right, sergeant.”</p> - -<p>“You can leave by that door through which we -came in. Go ahead. We’ll not want more of you -to-night.”</p> - -<p>Donovan touched his helmet and hurried away.</p> - -<p>Sergeant Brady gazed after him for a moment; -then turned and entered the wardroom, when an ominous -frown instantly settled on his face.</p> - -<p>Miss Mabel Smith had departed.</p> - -<p>There remained only the nurse, Agnes, then engaged -in putting the narrow cot in order. Brady -strode toward her, asking roughly:</p> - -<p>“Where’s that girl? Not gone, has she?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. She went with Doctor Devoll, sir, -through the corridor leading to the front office,” said -the nurse, pointing to a door at the opposite end of -the wardroom.</p> - -<p>“When? How long ago?” Brady demanded.</p> - -<p>“Not more than two or three minutes. You might -overtake them, sir, if you hurry. I’ll show you the -way.”</p> - -<p>“Do so. I want the girl detained here.”</p> - -<p>The nurse hurriedly led the way, Brady striding -after her. They passed through a long corridor leading -to the main part of the building and entered a -brightly lighted office fronting on Hamilton Square.</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll was alone there, closing a roll-top -desk.</p> - -<p>“Has that girl gone, doctor?” Brady demanded the -moment he entered.</p> - -<p>The physician’s brows fell slightly, and his cold<span class="pagenum">[49]</span> -blue eyes took on a sharper glint. He appeared to -resent the officer’s brusqueness. He no further betrayed -it, however, and said, with characteristic blandness:</p> - -<p>“She has, sergeant. Why do you ask?”</p> - -<p>“Because I wanted to detain her.”</p> - -<p>“Detain her? For what?” The physician gazed -more intently.</p> - -<p>“For what!” Brady echoed him derisively. “It -strikes me, Doctor Devoll, that this business has gone -far enough. This is the fourth girl brought here in -the same condition, under the same mysterious circumstances, -and allowed to depart before a thorough -investigation was made. Not hide nor hair of them -could afterward be found. She should have been -kept here until we could——”</p> - -<p>“Pardon me, sergeant,” Doctor Devoll checked him -with a gesture, “you overlook one fact.”</p> - -<p>“One fact?”</p> - -<p>“This is a hospital, not a police station. I am a -physician, not a detective. My duty is to care for -a patient, if necessary, but not to hold one in custody -after one has recovered. I have no right to do that. -The young lady insisted upon going home, and I -had no proper course but to let her go.”</p> - -<p>“All right, doctor, if you look at it in that way,” -said Brady, still frowning darkly.</p> - -<p>“There is no other way for me to look at it,” Doctor -Devoll said suavely. “As a matter of fact, however, -you can easily find and question the girl. I -learned her name and address, which I neglected doing -in the previous cases.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[50]</span></p> - -<p>“Ah, that’s better!” Brady declared. “Who is -she?”</p> - -<p>“Her name is Mabel Smith. She boards at No. -81 Flint Street.”</p> - -<p>“Good enough! The matter now can rest until -to-morrow,” said Brady. “May I use your telephone? -I wish to say a word to Mr. Blaisdell, at the Wilton -House.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[51]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">GROUNDS FOR SUSPICION.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Sergeant Brady got in communication with Nicholas -Carter that night just in time to prevent him -from visiting the hospital, following the telephone -talk he had with Chief Gleason, after the latter had -been notified of this fourth mysterious case.</p> - -<p>Carter had not quite finished his breakfast the following -morning, however, at which he was seated -with Chick and Patsy in a private dining room of the -Wilton House, when their waiter brought in a sealed -missive, which the detective opened and read. It -consisted of only two lines:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“I want to see you. I am waiting in the hotel parlor.</p> - -<p class="p-1" style="padding-left:15em">“<span class="smcap">Brady</span>.”</p></div> - -<p>The detective thrust the note into his pocket and -waved the waiter from the room.</p> - -<p>“It’s from Sergeant Brady,” he then said to his -companions. “He is up in the parlor. There must -be something doing, or he would not have called so -early. I’ll drink my coffee and take him up to our -suite. You can join us there.”</p> - -<p>“It probably relates to that girl,” said Chick.</p> - -<p>“Very likely. He may want my advice or assistance.”</p> - -<p>“You haven’t forgotten the autopsy this morning, -chief, in that Todd case, have you?” Patsy reminded -him inquiringly. “You said you wanted to be there.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[52]</span></p> - -<p>“No, I’ve not forgotten it, Patsy,” said his chief, -rising. “I’ll be there all right, after learning what -Brady has on his mind.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll be with you again in five minutes,” Chick -remarked, as the detective was leaving.</p> - -<p>Carter found Brady at the parlor door, and he at -once conducted him to his suite on the floor above, -where he produced a box of cigars and invited him -to be seated.</p> - -<p>“I slipped in through the side door and sent my -note by your waiter, after learning that you were at -breakfast,” Brady informed him while lighting his -cigar. “If it were known that a police sergeant was -calling upon you, your identity might be suspected.”</p> - -<p>“Possibly,” Carter admitted. “You did the right -thing, Brady, at all events. What’s on your mind?”</p> - -<p>“Gleason sent me. It’s about that girl. I could -not telephone any of the particulars to you last night, -for Doctor Devoll was in the office and heard all I -was saying. He might have suspected that I was -talking with a detective.</p> - -<p>“So I merely told you that the girl had gone and -that it would be useless for you to follow the suggestion -made you. I referred, of course, to Chief -Gleason’s communication.”</p> - -<p>“I understood you.”</p> - -<p>“This morning, however, I have made other discoveries,” -Brady added. “They shed still a worse -light on the case.”</p> - -<p>“Did the circumstances last night differ materially -from those of the three other cases about which Gleason -informed me?” the detective inquired.</p> - -<p>“No, they were almost identical.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[53]</span></p> - -<p>“You need not state them, then. What more have -you discovered?”</p> - -<p>Brady told him what Donovan had seen and heard, -nevertheless, and he then added, replying:</p> - -<p>“Doctor Devoll asked the girl for her name and -address in this case. She said it was Mabel Smith -and that she boarded at No. 81 Flint Street. I have -been there this morning. The house is occupied by -a man with whom I am well acquainted, and who is -entirely reliable. He knows no girl named Mabel -Smith. She gave Doctor Devoll a fictitious name.”</p> - -<p>“I see,” Carter nodded. “That is somewhat significant.”</p> - -<p>“I also learned from Donovan, who was present -when the girl revived, that she claimed to have had -a small leather bag. I happen to know that she had, -for I picked it up from the ground near the seat on -which she was found. I placed it on the litter on -which she was taken into the hospital, and I know -it was there when she was taken into the ward.”</p> - -<p>“Couldn’t it be found?”</p> - -<p>“No. Since learning that she gave a false name, -and, thinking the bag might contain something that -would reveal her identity, I have been to the hospital -in search of it.”</p> - -<p>“Whom did you see or question?”</p> - -<p>“The night nurse and the orderly. Both appear -to be trustworthy. They deny having seen the bag. -The attendant could not have taken it, for he went -with me to the operating room and did not return. -It’s absurd, of course, to suppose Doctor Devoll took -it, and there remains only the girl herself.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[54]</span></p> - -<p>“Did she have any opportunity to get possession -of it without being seen?” Carter inquired.</p> - -<p>“I asked about that, and was told that she was not -seen to find it,” said Brady. “It is barely possible -that she did, nevertheless, and that it contained something -which she did not wish Doctor Devoll to see.”</p> - -<p>“Very possibly,” the detective allowed.</p> - -<p>“Otherwise, she would have admitted having found -it.”</p> - -<p>“That’s reasonable, sergeant.”</p> - -<p>“That’s how I size it up,” Brady added. “It seems -to me the only plausible explanation. What I can’t -fathom, however, is why these girls are repeatedly -found unconscious in the hospital grounds, and why -this last one lied in order to hide her identity. Why -were they all so anxious to get away and avoid publicity?”</p> - -<p>Nicholas Carter did not express his views. He did -not care to indulge in vain speculations. As a matter -of fact, moreover, he was nearly as puzzled as -the police sergeant by the quite extraordinary circumstances. -He looked up from a figure in the Wilton -carpet, at which he had been thoughtfully gazing, -and asked:</p> - -<p>“Have any charges been made at headquarters -or a complaint of any kind that might even indirectly -relate to any of these cases?”</p> - -<p>“No, nothing of the kind,” said Brady confidently. -“I’m dead sure of that.”</p> - -<p>“Have the police tried in each case to trace and -identify the girl?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed, for all they were worth.”</p> - -<p>“But with no success at all?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[55]</span></p> - -<p>“None whatever. If we could hit upon any motive -for such a job, or see anything to have been gained -by it, we might get on the track of the crooks. For -the fact that all the girls told the same story, and -plainly enough had been drugged or rendered insensible -by some mysterious means, shows that there -must have been trickery of some kind.”</p> - -<p>“I agree with you, Brady, in that respect.”</p> - -<p>“Strange to say, nevertheless, the victims appeared -anxious only to leave the hospital as quickly as possible -and to bury themselves in obscurity.”</p> - -<p>“Have the newspapers reported the previous cases?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed, in display type.”</p> - -<p>“They must have been read by these girls, then, -and there must be some serious reason for their reticence,” -said Nick. “Very evidently, Brady, there is -something under the surface, something quite out -of the ordinary. Gleason wants me to look into this -last case?”</p> - -<p>“That’s just what he wants, Carter.”</p> - -<p>“Who is the chief director or head physician of -the Osgood Hospital?”</p> - -<p>“Doctor Devoll.”</p> - -<p>“He who looked after the girl last night, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. He ranks high among the local physicians. -He’s all right, too, I guess.”</p> - -<p>“No doubt,” the detective agreed. “Well, Brady. -I’ll look into the case. I am to see Chief Gleason -during this morning, and I then will have a talk with -him about it. I infer that you have nothing more -to tell me.”</p> - -<p>“No, nothing,” said Brady, rising to go. “You -have got all that I can hand you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[56]</span></p> - -<p>Carter sat smoking and frowning at the carpet for -several moments after the sergeant had departed. The -several cases were so unusual, so exceedingly inexplicable, -that they interested him. Had there been -only one such case, only one girl found in the hospital -grounds, he would have considered it hardly -worthy of his serious attention; but four in such close -proximity to each other, and so much alike, plainly -proved that they were victims of some person or persons.</p> - -<p>His reflections were ended by the entrance of Chick -and Patsy only two or three minutes after Brady departed, -and he briefly told them what the sergeant -stated, both already being informed of the other circumstances.</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz!” said Patsy, after hearing him attentively. -“It sure is a curious puzzle, chief. What do -you make of it, and how are you going to tackle it?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t make much of it, Patsy, at present,” his -chief frankly admitted. “There must be a very potent -cause for the reticence of all four girls and for -their obvious wish to remain in the background.”</p> - -<p>“Sure thing. That goes without saying.”</p> - -<p>“It’s barely possible that they are in league with -crooks who were responsible for what befell them, -and that they do not dare to come forward and tell -the truth.”</p> - -<p>“Mebbe so, chief,” Patsy nodded.</p> - -<p>“On the other hand, the whole business may be the -work of some exceedingly keen and clever rascal who, -alone and with some ulterior object in view, has been -experimenting with these girls and paving the way to -a much more knavish project,” the detective added.<span class="pagenum">[57]</span> -“If that is correct, it’s a hundred to one that he is -the unknown crook who committed the mysterious -robberies mentioned by Gleason, and whom he is so -anxious to round up.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, there may be something in that!” Chick -said quickly. “It appears to be the most probable -explanation.”</p> - -<p>“I think so, too.”</p> - -<p>“But what are your plans, chief?” asked Patsy -earnestly. “How are we to pick up a trail worth following?”</p> - -<p>“By finding that girl who said her name was Mabel -Smith,” the chief replied pointedly. “That must -be done, to begin with, and then we’ll go a step further.”</p> - -<p>“But how can we trace her?”</p> - -<p>“That’s up to you, Chick.”</p> - -<p>“Up to me, eh?”</p> - -<p>“It’s the task you must tackle this morning,” said -Carter. “We have a great deal to accomplish to-day, -and each must do his part. I wish to follow -up the Todd case, with Patsy to aid me. You had -better go to the hospital, Chick, and get after that -girl. I have no great faith in Brady’s discernment -and acumen. You could discover more in a minute, -Chick, than he would learn in a month of Sundays.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ll take it on, chief,” Chick said agreeably. -“I may perhaps pick up a thread. I’ll report when -we meet for lunch.”</p> - -<p>“In the meantime, Patsy, in anticipation of what -I expect an autopsy to reveal, I want you to visit the -office of Daly & Page, stock brokers, and see what -you quietly can learn about Gaston Todd,” the detective<span class="pagenum">[58]</span> -directed. “You are not known in Madison, -and your motive will not be suspected. You may -cover that, if you like, by pretending to be a newspaper -reporter.”</p> - -<p>“Enough said,” replied Patsy. “I’ve got you, -chief.”</p> - -<p>“Not entirely,” Nick rejoined. “Find out at just -what time Todd left the office yesterday, and whether -it was his customary time of going out in the middle -of the day. If not, make it a point to learn, if possible, -why he went out at an unusual time. He may -have received a letter, or a telephone call, or a communication -by messenger.”</p> - -<p>“I understand,” said Patsy. “Leave it to me.”</p> - -<p>“In other words,” said Carter, “I want to learn -why Todd went to the Waldmere Chambers about -noon, and why he was waiting in the corridor, where -Frank Paulding saw him.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll find out, chief, if possible.”</p> - -<p>“It may be necessary to take other steps later in -order to hit the right trail,” Carter said in conclusion. -“I will decide about that after learning what -the autopsy reveals. I’ll see the coroner and medical -examiner this morning.”</p> - -<p>“We may as well be off, then, and get in our work,” -said Chick.</p> - -<p>“The sooner the better,” the detective declared, -glancing at his watch. “It is now nine o’clock. We’ll -meet here again at one.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[59]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">THE YELLOW COUPON.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>It was half past nine when Chick sauntered across -Hamilton Square and sized up the buildings and -grounds of the Osgood Hospital. He had learned -from his chief the general lay of the land, so to speak, -and continued around the extensive park and grounds, -seeking the rear gate through which Mabel Smith, -so called, had either entered or been carried into the -place.</p> - -<p>He was not long in finding the gate, and he then -discovered a gardener at work near by with a lawn -mower. Entering with an air of cursory interest only, -he approached him and inquired:</p> - -<p>“Is there any objection to my looking around a -bit?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir, I reckon not,” said the laborer.</p> - -<p>“I’ll not disturb anything.”</p> - -<p>“Go ahead, sir. Go as far as you like.”</p> - -<p>Chick sauntered up the gravel walk, and presently -discovered the iron seat on which the girl had been -found. He walked over to it across the lawn and -sat down, in seeming enjoyment of the shade tree -overhanging it, but in reality to make a careful inspection -of the surrounding ground.</p> - -<p>He could discover in the greensward at first only -the marks left by the feet of the two policemen, whose -heavy and lingering tread had obliterated any other -imprints that might have been there when they arrived<span class="pagenum">[60]</span> -upon the spot. As he was about to go, however, -he caught sight of a small piece of a yellow card -half hidden in the grass back of the seat. He leaned -over and picked it up.</p> - -<p>It was part of a theater ticket, the coupon for a -seat, and it was dated for the previous evening.</p> - -<p>“The Alhambra,” Chick read. “By Jove, that’s the -theater from which the girl said she had come. She -evidently did not lie from start to finish. H’m! This -may help.”</p> - -<p>He had detected a faint aroma from the coupon, -and he held it nearer to his nostrils.</p> - -<p>“Violet perfumery, but of an inferior quality,” he -said to himself. “That indicates that she’s a girl of -only moderate means, who cannot afford an expensive -extract. She carried the ticket in a bag with her -handkerchief, which was scented. This may start me -on the right scent, too, and I’ll proceed to follow it up.”</p> - -<p>Placing the coupon in his notebook, he sauntered -back across the lawn and passed out through the gate. -He then saw that there was a narrow court beyond -a row of dwellings on the opposite side of the street, -which evidently was an outlet into the streets beyond.</p> - -<p>Crossing over, he walked in that direction, and as -he was passing the third house from the court he saw -a polished brass plate on the vestibule door:</p> - -<p>“Gordon Barclay. Artist.”</p> - -<p>Chick stopped short and gazed up at the door.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, this must be Don Barclay,” he muttered. -“It’s not likely that there are two artists by that name. -I’ve not seen him for years. I’ll take a chance that -I’m right and will meet an old friend.”</p> - -<p>He mounted the steps and rang the bell. A butler<span class="pagenum">[61]</span> -admitted him and vanished with his card on a -silver tray. Presently, with hurried steps that evinced -a very genuine eagerness, a well-built, handsome man -in a velvet jacket rushed into the room, with eyes -and cheeks aglow and his hands extended in cordial -greeting.</p> - -<p>“Holy smoke, Chick Carter! The one and only -Chick himself!” he shouted. “Gracious, but I’m glad -to see you! How the dickens came you here? You’re -not after me, are you?”</p> - -<p>Chick laughed, and returned the speaker’s cordial -greeting.</p> - -<p>“No, indeed, Don, nothing like that,” he replied. -“I’m in Madison on other business. I was passing this -house only by chance, and I saw your door plate.”</p> - -<p>“Thank Heaven, you didn’t overlook it!”</p> - -<p>“And it occurred to me that we have not met for -three years——”</p> - -<p>“Four, you rascal!” Barclay cut in boisterously. -“It was on a boxing night at the Hudson Athletic -Club. I remember it perfectly.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right, Don.”</p> - -<p>“Sure, Chick, it’s right. By Jove, you’re a sight for -sore eyes! Come to the dining room and we’ll fire -a ball. Then I’ll take you up to my studio and show -you where I’m winning fame and fortune by slinging -paint. That’s on the top floor. We’ll have a -smoke and a good old-fashioned chat. By gracious, -I’m glad to see you!”</p> - -<p>There was no doubting it. It stuck out all over the -genial, vivacious artist, and for nearly an hour Chick -complied with his wishes and responded to his running -fire of questions. Then, during a lull in their<span class="pagenum">[62]</span> -conversation, he turned it upon the matter more seriously -engaging him.</p> - -<p>“Now, Don, a word about my mission in Madison,” -said he, dropping the end of his cigar on a tray. “I -know you may be trusted to say nothing about it.”</p> - -<p>“Not a word, Chick,” Barclay assured him. “Come -on with it.”</p> - -<p>“You read the newspapers, I suppose.”</p> - -<p>“Only the headlines,” laughed the artist. “The details -give me a confounded headache.”</p> - -<p>“You may not know about it, then,” said Chick. -“I’m here to help clear up quite a sensational mystery -in this immediate locality.”</p> - -<p>“Thunder! You don’t say so. Why, I thought -the old fogies who dwell in this locality were too slow -and sedate to get into anything more sensational than -the death column.”</p> - -<p>“I will confide the case to you.”</p> - -<p>He did so briefly, merely stating the main features -of the previous night, and a look of mingled surprise -and amusement then appeared in the artist’s eyes.</p> - -<p>“Well, by gracious, that’s jolly funny!” he declared, -drawing up in his chair.</p> - -<p>“Funny! What do you mean?” Chick inquired.</p> - -<p>“Why, it’s like this,” Barclay proceeded to explain. -“I use this top floor for my studio, where I get the -best light. I was at work here quite late last night. -It must have been nearly midnight. Here, come this -way. Come to the window.”</p> - -<p>Chick arose and accompanied him to a broad window -overlooking most of the square, including the -hospital building and grounds. Only a small part<span class="pagenum">[63]</span> -of the grounds was hidden from view by the building -itself.</p> - -<p>“Last night, just after I finished my work, I looked -out here for a breath of fresh air,” Barclay resumed. -“It was quite dark down below, but I caught sight of -a motor cab, one of the noiseless type that is run by -electricity, for it moved without a sound. I followed -it with my eyes, having nothing better to do, and I -saw it stop at a gate leading into the hospital grounds.”</p> - -<p>“That rear gate beyond the west wing?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, the same.” Barclay turned and nodded. “Do -you suppose it figured in the case you mentioned?”</p> - -<p>“I would not be surprised,” Chick said a bit grimly. -“Continue. What more did you see?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing very definite,” Barclay said. “I was not -watching the cab suspiciously or with a very lively -interest, though it struck me as being rather singular -that it stopped at that gate, instead of in front of the -hospital, or at a house on this side of the street, if the -occupants were going there.”</p> - -<p>“Did you see any one enter the cab or leave it?”</p> - -<p>“I did not. Notice that the trees obstruct the view -somewhat, and the lamps are all on this side. I am -sure, however, that no one crossed the street,” Barclay -quickly added. “I would have seen him in that -case. Obviously, therefore, if any one left the cab, -he must have gone into the hospital grounds.”</p> - -<p>“That is what I suspect,” said Chick. “Which -way did the cab go when departing?”</p> - -<p>“Straight on and around the square. I know it did -not return for ten minutes at least, if at all, for I -stood here smoking as long as that.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[64]</span></p> - -<p>“You saw no one, then, nor heard anything?”</p> - -<p>“No, neither.”</p> - -<p>“From which direction did the cab come?”</p> - -<p>“Through the court at the end of this block,” said -Barclay, pointing. “It leads out into Belmont Street.”</p> - -<p>“You think it was an electric cab?”</p> - -<p>“I’m almost sure of that.”</p> - -<p>“How long did it remain at the gate?”</p> - -<p>“Not more than a couple of minutes,” said Barclay. -“Do you really think it figures in your affair?”</p> - -<p>“As a matter of fact, Don, I think there is hardly -any doubt of it,” Chick said seriously. “In a way, -however, it serves only to increase the mystery.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t quite see your point.”</p> - -<p>“My point is this,” Chick explained. “Why did -the person, or persons, responsible for this curious -affair go to the trouble to bring the victim, if she was -a victim, and place her on a seat in the hospital -grounds? She could have been left in many places -with much less danger of detection. In the court -itself or a dark doorway. It surely is a singular -mystery.”</p> - -<p>Barclay puckered his brows thoughtfully, but he -could suggest no theory for the circumstances. Moreover, -he could not give the detective any additional -information.</p> - -<p>Declining an invitation to remain to dinner, Chick -remained only to warn the artist to say nothing about -the affair, and he then bade him farewell and departed. -He did not retrace his steps. Instead, he -sauntered through the court mentioned, which was -only wide enough for a single vehicle, and he presently -found himself in Belmont Street, a quiet residential<span class="pagenum">[65]</span> -avenue, with a traffic-filled thoroughfare to be seen in -the distance.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, it looks very much as if I am hitting -the right trail,” Chick said to himself, now shaping -a course toward the business section. “If the girl -left the Alhambra when the show ended, it then must -have been about eleven o’clock, and if she lost consciousness -while walking homeward through Main -Street, it’s a safe gamble that she did not go far in -her abnormal condition. She may have been picked -up by the cab, therefore, and brought this way and -through the court just as Barclay was gazing from -his window. It would have taken only a couple of -minutes to place the girl on the seat and move on, -as he stated, which would show plainly that one or -more men had a hand in the job. But what was the -object? That’s the question. By Jove, I’ll head for -the Alhambra and see what I can learn.”</p> - -<p>He arrived at the moving-picture house ten minutes -later. He found the manager, Mr. Hewitt, in the -ticket office with one of his sellers. Addressing him -through the lattice window, at the same time tendering -the yellow coupon, he inquired:</p> - -<p>“Do you know, or have you any way of learning, -who occupied this seat in your theater last evening?”</p> - -<p>Hewitt gazed at him a bit sharply through his -glasses; then shook his head and tossed the coupon -aside, saying indifferently:</p> - -<p>“I don’t think so.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t think so?”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I said.”</p> - -<p>“Are you the manager?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[66]</span></p> - -<p>Chick did not fancy being treated in that way. He -pressed a little nearer to the window, and said, with -sinister intonation:</p> - -<p>“You take a tip from me, Mr. Manager, and have -another think. Make it a more serious one this time.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by that?” frowned Hewitt.</p> - -<p>“Just what I say,” Chick replied, turning the lap -of his vest and displaying his detective’s badge.</p> - -<p>Hewitt started perceptibly, and flushed deeply.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s different; very different,” he said in -tones of hasty apology. “I did not suppose it was a -matter of any importance.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t waste my time or encroach upon that of -others with unimportant matters,” Chick replied -coldly. “Have a look at the coupon now, and give -me the information I want, if possible. Can you tell -who occupied the seat?”</p> - -<p>“Well, really, sir, I hardly think so,” Hewitt now -said regretfully. “In a theater of this size——”</p> - -<p>“Stop a moment, sir,” interrupted his assistant, who -was also inspecting the coupon. “This was torn from -a ticket sold by telephone and held until called for. -Here is a mark of my indelible pencil on the back -of it.”</p> - -<p>“Do you write the patron’s name on the back of a -ticket when it is to be held till called for?” asked -Chick.</p> - -<p>“Yes, certainly. But only the tail of the last letter -happened to fall on the coupon,” said the assistant. -“It contains no part of the name. See for -yourself.”</p> - -<p>“Very true,” Chick admitted. “But what has become -of that part of the ticket taken at the door?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[67]</span></p> - -<p>“The stubs?”</p> - -<p>“If that’s what you call them. Have they been -destroyed? No two coupons are torn off exactly -alike. We might find the ticket that this coupon perfectly -matches, as well as these pencil lines, that would -give us the name of the purchaser.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, sir, that’s as true as gospel!” Hewitt declared. -“No, the stubs have not been destroyed. I -threw them into my wastebasket last evening after -making up the house. They still are there.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s have a look at them.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly, sir, and I’ll assist you,” Hewitt readily -assented. “Open the door, Jim, for the gentleman -to enter. Walk into my private office, Mr.——”</p> - -<p>“Chickering,” said Chick dryly.</p> - -<p>“We’ll very soon examine them, Mr. Chickering,” -Hewitt added, pulling a wastebasket from under his -desk. “Take a seat. We need to examine only the -yellow stubs and those having a name on them, and -that may be quickly done.”</p> - -<p>It was not in Chick’s nature to nurse resentment, -and he now met the much more gracious manager -halfway. Less than fifty of the stubs had been inspected -and compared with the coupon when the desired -one was found. There could be no mistaking -it, and on the back of it was written the name: “Nellie -Fielding.”</p> - -<p>Hewitt called in his assistant and questioned him, -showing him the ticket.</p> - -<p>“That’s your writing, Jim,” said he. “Do you -remember selling the woman the ticket, or——”</p> - -<p>“Remember—sure thing,” interrupted the other.<span class="pagenum">[68]</span> -“She comes here every week. I know her well by -sight and where she works.”</p> - -<p>“Very good,” said Chick, suppressing his elation. -“Where is she employed?”</p> - -<p>“She’s a waitress in Boyden’s restaurant, in Middle -Street. You’ll find her there at any hour of the -day.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” Chick bowed, with a glance from one -to the other. “I’m obliged to both of you.”</p> - -<p>He lingered only to warn them not to communicate -with the girl; then he shook hands with both and hurried -from the theater.</p> - -<p>“Now, by Jove, there’ll be something doing,” he -said to himself, much as if he had thus far been idle. -“I’ll mighty soon find out why the milk is in the -coconut.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[69]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">SUSPICIONS VERIFIED.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Nicholas Carter and his assistants were never slow -in beginning to weave a net in which to catch a culprit -when the evidence and circumstances in a case convinced -them that a crime had been committed.</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan, while Chick was engaged as described, -was nearly as successful as the latter in picking -up the first strands with which the net might -be formed. Hastening to the brokerage office of Daly -& Page, he introduced himself to the latter, the former -then having gone to the local stock exchange, and -requested a few facts concerning the history and character -of Mr. Gaston Todd, whose very sudden death -had greatly shocked his many friends in Madison.</p> - -<p>“He was a fine fellow,” Page glibly informed him. -“Genial, honest, and capable, devoted to our interests, -and always at his desk in business hours. That’s -pretty good, isn’t it? That’s all we require of a man.”</p> - -<p>“That would seem to fill the bill, sir,” Patsy observed -a bit dryly.</p> - -<p>“It does,” said the broker. “And what such a man -does out of business hours, of what his habits and -deportment consist, are of little importance to us. -Todd served us faithfully for ten years. We shall -miss him. We shall, indeed!”</p> - -<p>“He died very suddenly,” said Patsy. “Had you -any idea that he was afflicted with any ailment?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[70]</span></p> - -<p>“No, not the slightest. His death came like a bolt -from the blue.”</p> - -<p>“Was he regular in his habits?”</p> - -<p>“Very.”</p> - -<p>“I understand that he left here about twelve o’clock. -Did he usually go out at that time?”</p> - -<p>“Well, no, he did not.” Page gazed more sharply -at his questioner. “He usually lunched at one o’clock.”</p> - -<p>“He may have had some mission to attend to for -the firm, or——”</p> - -<p>“No, nothing of that kind. He was our cashier, -and his duty kept him here. You raise a point, young -man, that has not occurred to me. By the way, -Archie,” Page called to a clerk who had served in -Todd’s place when the latter was absent, “come here -a moment. Do you know why Todd went out an -hour earlier than usual yesterday?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m not sure, sir,” replied the clerk. “I think -it was because of a telephone message.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know from whom?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. I know only that he was called to the -telephone just before noon. When he returned he -asked me to take his place in the cage, saying that he -was going out for a few minutes. That’s all I know -about it.”</p> - -<p>That was all of any importance that Patsy was able -to learn, but it was sufficient to send him posthaste to -the office of the telephone exchange. There he stated -his mission to the manager, who conducted him into -a room where three girl operators were seated at a -large switchboard.</p> - -<p>“Look at your record sheets for yesterday,” said -the manager, addressing them. “Which of you made<span class="pagenum">[71]</span> -a connection for Daly & Page, 442 West, just before -twelve o’clock?”</p> - -<p>One of the girls replied in a few minutes, after inspecting -a large sheet of paper taken from a drawer:</p> - -<p>“I did, sir, and I now remember it distinctly,” she -said. “It was the last I made before going to lunch.”</p> - -<p>“Is there any way of learning who made the call?” -Patsy inquired.</p> - -<p>“Only by ringing up Daly & Page and asking them,” -said the manager.</p> - -<p>“They do not know,” said Patsy. “The call was not -for the firm.”</p> - -<p>“It was for a man named Todd,” put in the operator.</p> - -<p>“How did you learn that?”</p> - -<p>“I heard a few words that were said before I removed -my receiver,” explained the girl. “The man -who rang up the number said he wanted to talk with -Mr. Todd, and half a minute later I heard him ask: -‘Is that you, Todd?’”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure it was a man’s voice?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, positively.”</p> - -<p>“Did you hear him say anything more?”</p> - -<p>“I heard Todd reply in the affirmative. The other -then said, as near as I can remember, that he was -Todd’s running mate who was talking, and that Todd -must go at once to the Waldmere Chambers and wait -in the second-floor corridor until the speaker could -join him.”</p> - -<p>“That was all?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. I heard the last while I was removing -the receiver. It is only by chance that I remember -it. His calling himself Todd’s running mate, however,<span class="pagenum">[72]</span> -sounded so singular to me that I listened for a -moment longer. That is all I can tell you.”</p> - -<p>Patsy thanked her, also the manager, and departed.</p> - -<p>It then was about the time when Nick Carter entered -the Madison mortuary, to which all that remained -of Gaston Todd had been taken, and where the -autopsy was to be performed. It was finished, in -fact, or all that then could be done, when Nick entered, -and he found only Coroner Kane and Doctor -Marvin, the district medical examiner, in the superintendent’s -office. He scarce had arrived there, however, -when Chief Gleason followed him in from the -street.</p> - -<p>Nick already had introduced himself to the others, -with whom an appointment for him had been made -by the chief, and, after a few conventional preliminaries, -he brought up the business engaging them.</p> - -<p>“Well, what’s the verdict, Doctor Marvin?” he inquired. -“You say you have made a thorough examination -of the body.”</p> - -<p>“Not quite,” corrected the physician, glancing at -a leather bag on the floor. “There are parts of the -body of which I wish to make a microscopic examination -and subject to chemical analysis. I do say, however, -that you should have been a physician, Mr. Carter, -despite the fact that you would be badly missed -in your present vocation.”</p> - -<p>“You mean, I infer, that you wonder why I so -quickly suspected that Todd did not die from natural -causes,” said the detective.</p> - -<p>“Exactly. On what do you base your suspicion?”</p> - -<p>“On several facts, doctor, which are hardly worthy -of mention,” Nick said indifferently. “The surrounding<span class="pagenum">[73]</span> -circumstances, Todd’s outward indications of good -health, a lingering expression denoting mingled fright -and horror, evinced also by an unusual dilation of his -pupils—these, together with a singular abnormal appearance -of the skin near the lips and nostrils. But -the result of your own examination is much more -material,” he abruptly digressed. “What is your opinion?”</p> - -<p>“The same as your own,” said Doctor Marvin more -gravely.</p> - -<p>“You found——”</p> - -<p>“That there was absolutely no organic disease. His -vital organs were apparently in a perfectly healthy condition. -I can discover no natural cause for Todd’s -sudden death.”</p> - -<p>“Did you notice the singular condition I have mentioned?” -Nick inquired.</p> - -<p>“I did,” said the physician. “I detect it, or a somewhat -similar condition, in the tissues of the lungs. -They have a curious, withered or cauterized appearance.”</p> - -<p>“Have you any opinion as to the cause?”</p> - -<p>“I would say it was caused by inhaling some very -powerful corrosive gas, possibly of a deadly nature, -though from what it was derived or how administered -I cannot imagine, even if I am right. I am going to -submit them to tests, however, also the blood, that -may enable me to form a more definite opinion and -solve the problem.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think there is any problem, doctor, or any -doubt, to put it more properly, that Gaston Todd died -an unnatural death?”</p> - -<p>“No, not the slightest, Mr. Carter.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[74]</span></p> - -<p>“Do you think it the result of a crime?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I think the circumstances warrant very serious -suspicions,” Doctor Marvin said gravely.</p> - -<p>“So do I,” Nick declared. “As a matter of fact, -gentlemen, I feel reasonably sure that Gaston Todd -was, with some strange and atrocious means, most -foully murdered.”</p> - -<p>“We agree with you,” Coroner Kane now asserted. -“There are other circumstances which warrant that -suspicion.”</p> - -<p>“You mean?”</p> - -<p>“They involve a young man known to have had feelings -of bitter enmity for Todd, with whom he had an -angry altercation night before last and who was seen -leaving the Waldmere Chambers only a minute or two -before Todd was found dead on the corridor floor.”</p> - -<p>“Do you refer to Frank Paulding?” the detective inquired.</p> - -<p>“Yes. How did you learn about him, Mr. Carter?” -inquired the coroner, with a look of surprise.</p> - -<p>“Chief Gleason spoke of him to me and mentioned -their unfriendly relations,” Nick explained, but he said -nothing about his interview with Paulding. “He was -seen leaving the Waldmere Chambers, you say?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. We have found two witnesses and the time -is definitely fixed. Though they were not seen to -meet, we are reasonably sure that they did, and that -Paulding hurried out of the building and up the -street immediately afterward.”</p> - -<p>“All that does appear suspicious,” Nick agreed, not -without an object. “Have you questioned Paulding?” -he added, turning to Chief Gleason.</p> - -<p>“No, not yet,” replied the latter. “I have followed<span class="pagenum">[75]</span> -your advice and waited until after the autopsy. I have -had Paulding under espionage since last evening.”</p> - -<p>“A wise precaution, chief.”</p> - -<p>“What do you now advise?” Gleason added. “It -strikes me——”</p> - -<p>“If the circumstances are incriminating, as you -say,” Nick interrupted, “I think it will be wise to arrest -Paulding and hold him until after Doctor Marvin’s -further investigations. If we can prove positively -that Todd was murdered, we may build up a -strong case against the lawyer and possibly force a -confession from him.”</p> - -<p>“I already have decided on that step, Mr. Carter,” -said the coroner. “See to it, Gleason. Have Paulding -arrested as soon as possible, chief, and held on suspicion.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[76]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">THE DEEPER MYSTERY.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Nick Carter returned to the Wilton House at one -o’clock. He found Chick and Patsy waiting for him, -both of whom quickly told him what they had learned -that morning, and then heard his own brief report of -the inquest.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, you were right!” Chick then said seriously. -“It now is a cinch that Todd was murdered.”</p> - -<p>“I felt reasonably sure of it from the first,” the detective -replied.</p> - -<p>“But who killed him?” put in Patsy. “That’s the -question. You say you are sure, chief, that Paulding -did not do it.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, absolutely.”</p> - -<p>“What’s your game, then? Why did you frame up -a deal with him, telling him he might not be suspected -and afterward advise having him arrested?”</p> - -<p>“Superficially, Patsy, that does appear quite inconsistent,” -said Nick, smiling. “In reality, however, I -called on Paulding only to get his measure and convince -myself of his innocence. I want him arrested, -nevertheless, in order that Todd’s assassin, as to whose -identity and motive we are entirely in the dark, may -think the police are sure they have the right man. -That will relieve him of fears that otherwise would -put him on his guard. We then can get in our work -with much less difficulty.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[77]</span></p> - -<p>“There is something in that, chief, all right,” Patsy -quickly allowed.</p> - -<p>“It’s up to us to find the right man, however, and -now a word about your report,” Nick added. “From -what little the telephone girl heard, it is very evident -that Todd was called to the Waldmere Chambers and -directed to wait in the corridor either by the man -who killed him or by a man in league with or acting -under the instructions of the assassin. In other words, -Todd was lured there only to be murdered.”</p> - -<p>“Plainly enough,” Chick agreed. “We can safely -bank on that.”</p> - -<p>“We know, too, that Paulding then was in the building -to confer with a client,” Carter continued. “Being -convinced of his innocence, I know it was not he who -telephoned to Todd.”</p> - -<p>“Surely not.”</p> - -<p>“The fact that he was there, however, is very significant.”</p> - -<p>“Of what, chief?” questioned Patsy.</p> - -<p>“He may have been seen by some person anxious -to kill Todd and who, knowing their unfriendly relations, -and that Paulding would presently leave, took -advantage of the situation to lure Todd there, taking -a chance that he could kill him unobserved by others -immediately after Paulding departed, believing that -the latter then would be suspected.”</p> - -<p>“That’s plausible,” Chick nodded.</p> - -<p>“And that’s why Todd was directed to wait in the -corridor,” Carter pointed out. “The assassin wanted -him to be there when Paulding left the building. The -fact that he was not seen by Paulding, however, and -that he could confidently plan such a crime, as well as<span class="pagenum">[78]</span> -commit it, without being seen or heard, shows that he -must have had several advantages. He may be a -tenant in the building. It would not be easy or discreet -for an outsider to have undertaken it.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true, by Jove, and quite suggestive.”</p> - -<p>“Furthermore, he evidently knew that Todd would -obey his instructions or his commands, which indicates -that he may have had a hold on him of some -kind. Otherwise, Todd might not have left his desk -in business hours to keep the appointment.”</p> - -<p>“True again, chief.”</p> - -<p>“He referred to himself as Todd’s running mate, -moreover, if the telephone girl heard correctly,” said -Nick. “Plainly, then, they have been intimately related -in some way, either in business or as friends, and -Todd naturally would not have apprehended anything -like assassination.”</p> - -<p>“Surely not, chief,” said Patsy.</p> - -<p>“We next must learn, therefore, with whom Todd -was specially friendly, and whom he has been visiting -in the Waldmere Chambers.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the stuff, chief, for fair.”</p> - -<p>“You set about it this afternoon, Patsy,” Carter -directed. “Now, Chick, concerning Nellie Fielding. -You have not seen her?”</p> - -<p>“Not yet,” said Chick. “It was nearly one o’clock -when I left the Alhambra, and I decided to report to -you and have a bite to eat before seeking the girl. -I warned Hewitt and his ticket seller not to communicate -with her.”</p> - -<p>“See her after lunch, then, and be governed by what -she says and how she appears,” Carter directed. “It<span class="pagenum">[79]</span> -may be wise to shadow her, in case she is playing a -deeper game than appears on the surface. If alarmed -by your inquiries, she may attempt to warn others.”</p> - -<p>“Possibly. I’ll keep an eye on her, chief, at all -events.”</p> - -<p>“There may be a connection between the several -cases, Todd’s murder and the mystery involving these -four girls,” Carter added. “I shall see Doctor Devoll -this afternoon. I want to know just what he -thinks about them, and the strange condition in which -they were found.”</p> - -<p>It was three o’clock when Chick approached Boyden’s -restaurant in Middle Street. A man of middle -age was standing in the doorway, whose interest in -the appearance of one of the adjoining windows denoted -that he was the proprietor. He walked out, and -was to leave in a moment, when Chick, without having -approached near enough to be seen from within, -paused and asked:</p> - -<p>“Are you Mr. Boyden?”</p> - -<p>“I am,” said the latter. “Were you looking for -me?”</p> - -<p>“I want to inquire about a girl in your employ. -It is in connection with some legal investigations, but -in which the girl figures only indirectly,” Chick blandly -explained. “Her name is Nellie Fielding.”</p> - -<p>“What do you wish to learn about her?” Boyden -questioned.</p> - -<p>“How long has she been working for you?”</p> - -<p>“About a year.”</p> - -<p>“Is she married?”</p> - -<p>“No, indeed. She is only nineteen, and is the only -support of a crippled sister.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[80]</span></p> - -<p>“That speaks well for her,” Chick remarked tentatively.</p> - -<p>“Not more so than she deserves,” Boyden quickly -assured him. “Nellie is a very good girl, none better, -sir, as far as that goes. She has no means beyond -what she earns, but she is strictly honest and reliable.”</p> - -<p>“Her character and habits are good?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed, or she would not be in my employ.”</p> - -<p>“I want to talk with her for a few moments.”</p> - -<p>“Go ahead. You’ll find her at the office counter. -She acts as my cashier when I am out. I have an appointment, -or I would go in and introduce you.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, but that is not necessary,” said Chick. -“I want only a few words with her.”</p> - -<p>Boyden bowed and departed without replying, and -Chick turned toward the restaurant door. The information -he had received was all to the girl’s credit. -It denoted that evil and deception were entirely foreign -to her nature. Chick knew that she had lied to -Doctor Devoll, nevertheless, and he was determined -to learn for what reason.</p> - -<p>There were only a few scattered patrons in the restaurant -at that hour, and he found Nellie Fielding -at leisure, standing behind a small counter on which -were a cash register and a cigar case. He approached -and bought some cigars from her, at once favorably -impressed with her neat appearance and modest bearing.</p> - -<p>“You are Miss Fielding, I believe,” he remarked -while paying her.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” she replied, smiling at him over the cash -register. “That is my name.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[81]</span></p> - -<p>“There is a little matter about which I wish to question -you,” said Chick. “I refer to what occurred last -evening when you—there, don’t be alarmed!” he -quickly digressed. “There is nothing for you to fear, -Miss Fielding, if you have done nothing wrong, and -I feel quite sure that you have not.”</p> - -<p>She had turned very pale, with a frightened expression -leaping up in her eyes. She shrank from him, -trembling perceptibly, until his hasty assurance somewhat -relieved her.</p> - -<p>“No, no, I have done nothing wrong, sir,” she protested, -with quite pathetic fervor. “How did you -know—how did you learn about it? I did only what -I—oh, sir, I could see nothing else to do! I—I wanted -to avoid publicity.”</p> - -<p>“Compose yourself,” Chick said quietly. “I can -see quite plainly that you were more sinned against -than sinner. You have nothing to fear from me, Miss -Fielding, if you tell me the truth, and I think there -will be no need for any publicity.”</p> - -<p>“Are you a policeman?” she asked tremulously.</p> - -<p>“I am a detective,” Chick admitted. “You must not -mention it to others, however, or the fact that I have -questioned you. There have been other cases very -like your own, Miss Fielding, and I am quietly investigating -them. You must tell me the truth, therefore, -and I think I can safely assure you that it will be -only to your advantage. Will you do so?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes,” she replied, much relieved by Chick’s -kindly voice and manner. “As a matter of fact, sir, -I really have nothing to conceal. I am anxious only -to avoid publicity.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[82]</span></p> - -<p>“That is why you gave Doctor Devoll a fictitious -name?” Chick asked, smiling.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes,” Nellie admitted, coloring deeply. “But -I had one other reason also.”</p> - -<p>“What was that?”</p> - -<p>“I will tell you just what occurred. You then will -understand and perhaps will appreciate my feelings.”</p> - -<p>“I think so.” Chick bowed. “Tell me frankly. -I would be glad to befriend you in any way.”</p> - -<p>“It was like this, sir.” The girl leaned nearer to -him over the show case and spoke with lowered voice. -“I had been alone to the Alhambra, and the show was -an unusually long one. It was after eleven o’clock -when it ended. I came out with the crowd and turned -up Main Street to go home. I had walked only a -short distance, not more than a block, and the sidewalk -still was quite crowded, when I felt something -touch my hand. I turned quickly and glanced at the -nearest person, but none seemed to have any interest -in me or to be the one who had left it.”</p> - -<p>“Left what?” Chick inquired curiously.</p> - -<p>“The leather bag.” Miss Fielding gazed at him -more intently, as if really glad to have found some -one in whom she could confide and depend upon for -advice. “The leather bag—it had been placed in my -hand by some person. That is to say, sir, I now -think that it was, though I then was not quite sure -of it.”</p> - -<p>“Why so? Explain,” said Chick attentively.</p> - -<p>“Well, sir, there were many people passing in each -direction at the time, and it all occurred so quickly -and was so very singular that I was quite confused. -But there was the leather bag in my right hand, and<span class="pagenum">[83]</span> -I thought at first that I might accidentally have torn -it from the belt or the long neck chain of some passing -woman. I could see no woman near me, however, -and I now feel sure that the bag was quickly and -stealthily placed in my hand.”</p> - -<p>“That was, indeed, a strange experience,” said -Chick. “What did you do about it? What followed?”</p> - -<p>“I looked for some one from whom I could have -accidentally taken it or who might have given it to -me,” Nellie continued. “As I already have said, however, -no one appeared to have any interest in me, and -there was no woman near me.”</p> - -<p>“Was it a woman’s hand bag or a purse?”</p> - -<p>“It was more like a small purse, one that could -be easily held in one hand,” Nellie explained. “I felt -the shape and heard the clink of coins in it, moreover, -which made me think it was a purse. And then I—oh, -sir, I’m only a poor girl, dependent upon what I -earn to support myself and a crippled sister—I thought -I had come into possession of some money. I did -wrong. I was impelled to keep it. I yielded to temptation. -I——”</p> - -<p>“All that was perfectly natural, Miss Fielding, under -the circumstances,” Chick kindly interposed when -tears suddenly appeared in her blue eyes. “You cannot -be consistently blamed. Tell me what you did and -what followed?”</p> - -<p>“When I saw that I was not observed, or so it then -appeared, I concealed the bag under my coat and hurried -on for a short distance, until I could safely look -into it and learn what it contained. I did so under<span class="pagenum">[84]</span> -a lamp on a corner, when well away from the crowd -that had left the theater.”</p> - -<p>“What did you find in the bag?” Chick inquired.</p> - -<p>“It contained a small handkerchief, some gold coins, -and a diamond ring. Oh, how it glittered!” she exclaimed, -with quiet enthusiasm. “I gasped with -amazement when I saw it. I bent my head nearer to -peer into the bag, and then—oh, what a strange feeling -came over me!”</p> - -<p>“Explain,” said Chick. “Describe it.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know that I can,” Miss Fielding replied. -“I never felt so before. I seemed to be losing myself, -so to speak, and everything suddenly grew dim.”</p> - -<p>“Did you feel ill or——”</p> - -<p>“No, sir, not at all. The sensation was only momentary, -as when one suddenly faints. Then all became -dark. I don’t know what I did or what followed. -I knew nothing more, sir, until I revived on a cot -in the hospital and saw the physician and the nurse -bending over me. That is all I know about it, sir, all -I can tell you.”</p> - -<p>Chick had been watching her intently, and he was -sure that she had told the truth. It was a strange -story, nevertheless, a remarkable experience, and he -began to rack his brain for an explanation.</p> - -<p>“I believe all you have said, Miss Fielding,” he assured -her. “Have you any idea what overcame you?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir,” said she earnestly. “Not the slightest -idea. It is terribly mysterious.”</p> - -<p>“Did it occur immediately after you opened the -bag?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, almost immediately; surely within two -or three seconds.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[85]</span></p> - -<p>“When you bent nearer to look into the bag?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Had you removed the handkerchief?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. The gold coins and ring were on top -of it.”</p> - -<p>“Had you detected any odor from it, that of perfumery -or——”</p> - -<p>“No, sir, nothing,” Nellie interposed. “I would -have done so, perhaps, if there had been any, for I -held it quite near my face.”</p> - -<p>“That is the very point,” said Chick, smiling. “I -now suspect that the handkerchief was impregnated -with some odorless, but very powerful drug, which instantly -affected you. Naturally, in your surprise, you -would have inhaled it freely, and I think that is how -you were so quickly overcome.”</p> - -<p>“That may explain it,” Miss Fielding admitted. -“But it all was very, very strange.”</p> - -<p>“Can you recall anything that immediately followed?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir, absolutely nothing.”</p> - -<p>“But you can tell me just where it occurred?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,” Nellie nodded quickly. “It was on the -corner of Main and Maple Streets. There is an all-night -lunch cart nearly opposite. I remember seeing -it, and that is why I am sure of the precise location.”</p> - -<p>“Very good,” said Chick, smiling again. “Now tell -me, Miss Fielding, why you asked for the leather bag -before leaving the hospital. You claimed to have -missed it.”</p> - -<p>“I did, sir,” she readily admitted. “I suddenly -remembered it and thought I would take it and try to<span class="pagenum">[86]</span> -find the owner. I did not think of its having been the -cause of my trouble.”</p> - -<p>“But why did you not explain the circumstances to -Doctor Devoll and insist upon searching for the bag? -You afterward said you were not sure you had it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, sir, it suddenly occurred to me that I might -be suspected of stealing it,” Nellie explained, blushing -again. “That thought alarmed me, and I was anxious -only to leave the hospital and go home as quickly as -possible. That is why, too, I gave the physician a -false name and address. I wanted to wash my hands -of the whole affair and avoid any publicity.”</p> - -<p>“Very good. I don’t much blame you,” Chick -laughed, with a nod of approval. “I guess you have -told me a straight story, Miss Fielding.”</p> - -<p>“I have told you the truth, sir,” she said earnestly. -“I hope nothing more will——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, there is nothing for you to fear,” Chick hastened -to assure her. “Say nothing about it to others -or about me, and you probably will hear no more of it. -If you do learn anything more, however, write for me -to call and see you. A line to John Blaisdell, Wilton -House, will reach me.”</p> - -<p>Miss Fielding promised to comply, and wrote the -name on a sheet of paper.</p> - -<p>Chick said a few more words to reassure her, and -he then departed and hastened to the corner of Main -and Maple Streets, where the girl had so mysteriously -lost consciousness. He saw at a glance that the surroundings, -aside from the lunch cart a few rods away, -would have been favorable at midnight for the knavish -trick that he now was sure had been turned.</p> - -<p>Crossing over, he found the proprietor of the lunch<span class="pagenum">[87]</span> -cart alone, and he called him to the door, a shrewd, -keen-eyed Irish chap in the twenties.</p> - -<p>“I’m looking into a job that was pulled off about -twelve o’clock night before last,” Chick informed him. -“Did you happen to see a girl standing alone on the -opposite corner about that time?”</p> - -<p>“Faith, sir, I did,” nodded the other quickly. “I -was here at my door, sir, hoping to hook onto some -customers from the theater. The girl stopped under -the lamp and was looking at something.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the one,” said Chick. “Do you know how -long she remained there?”</p> - -<p>“Not more than a couple of minutes. Then a man -joined her and a motor cab showed up. They got -into it and rode away.”</p> - -<p>“With the cabman?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Can you describe either man?” asked Chick.</p> - -<p>“Faith, I don’t think so,” was the reply. “I didn’t -notice them closely, not thinking of anything wrong. -Besides, the cabman didn’t leave his seat. The other -was about medium size, I’d say, and wore a dark suit. -I would not swear to it, but I think he had a dark -beard, too.”</p> - -<p>“Quite likely,” Chick said dryly. “Do you know -from which direction he came?”</p> - -<p>“Up the street, sir. I reckoned that he was following -the girl, and that she was waiting for him. That’s -how it struck me.”</p> - -<p>“Did the cab come from the same direction?”</p> - -<p>“It did. I supposed the man had called it.”</p> - -<p>“Did the girl go with him willingly?”</p> - -<p>“She sure did, sir, for all I could see. The man<span class="pagenum">[88]</span> -took her arm and helped her in, and then they rode -away. That’s all there was to it.”</p> - -<p>Chick saw that this man could tell him nothing more -definite, and he left him, to believe, as he had said, -that there was nothing more to it.</p> - -<p>“All the same, by Jove, the mystery seems only the -deeper,” he said to himself while walking away. “Why -was Nellie Fielding, as well as three girls before her, -temporarily abducted and left unconscious in the hospital -grounds? Neither was subjected to any further -harm, any personal outrage, and robbery surely was -not the motive. What was it, then? What could be -gained? Why were such chances repeatedly taken? -There must have been something to gain, but I’ll be -hanged if I can fathom what. Deeper mystery is -right. There must be a big game or a most knavish -one, somewhere under the surface.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[89]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">THE ANGLE OF REFLECTION.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Doctor David Devoll, whose will and word were -law in the Osgood Hospital, gazed intently at the -card brought in by his personal attendant. He was -seated at a broad, flat desk in the middle of his private -room, a sanctuary into which few would have dared -to intrude after having once offended in that way.</p> - -<p>For of all the rules and regulations of this institution, -there was none more inflexible, none more rigorously -enforced, than that forbidding intrusion upon -the privacy of Doctor David Devoll.</p> - -<p>And when, perchance, it was violated, which was -very, very seldom, the unfortunate offender had cause -to long remember that suavity and smoothness in a -man may sometimes serve only to hide, like the sleek -coat of a leopard, very sharp claws and merciless teeth.</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll rubbed the top of his bald head with -his slender hands, gazing at the card and muttering -the name inscribed on it.</p> - -<p>“Blaisdell—John Blaisdell—I do not place him. -Written with a pen, eh? Do you know the man, Shannon?”</p> - -<p>“Not from a side of leather.”</p> - -<p>“Not even by sight?”</p> - -<p>“Never laid eyes on him. He’s a new one to my -lamps.”</p> - -<p>Shannon’s terse replies seemed to issue with husky -quietude from the uppermost depths of his throat.<span class="pagenum">[90]</span> -They were neither refined nor respectful. They -smacked of closer relations than those of master and -servant, as also appeared in his confidential attitude -and air of assurance. For he was bowed over the -desk, with both hands spread upon it, a broad, compact, -muscular man of fifty, with the bullet head of a -pugilist and the strength of a bull. He was clad in -livery, nevertheless—a bottle-green jacket and trousers, -trimmed with black braid.</p> - -<p>“He stated, you say, that he has private business -with me.” Doctor Devoll gazed up from the card -with a sinister gleam in his cold blue eyes.</p> - -<p>“That’s what he said.”</p> - -<p>“But not to what it relates?”</p> - -<p>“Not he!” Shannon grinned. “He ducked my question, -as if it were a right swing. When I have private -business with a man, says he, I don’t confide it to his -servant. That was how he countered.”</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll’s thin lips took on a smile that did -not improve his facial expression, usually very agreeable -and benign. He said deliberately:</p> - -<p>“You may show him in, Shannon. Wait. Don’t -let his business be too private, not too private, Shannon,” -he added significantly, pointing to a curtained -door. “Slip around there after admitting him and -wait until he goes. You may be needed.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll do better than that. If needed, Dave, I’ll be—here!”</p> - -<p>“Very good. Show him in.”</p> - -<p>Shannon straightened up, smoothed his bottle-green -jacket with his palms, and stalked with stilty stiffness -through the opposite door, closing it after him.</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll reverted to the card.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[91]</span></p> - -<p>“Written with a pen,” he repeated, his eyes squinted -and gleaming. “But not on one of our office blanks. -Most men have a printed card or engraved. Written -with a pen. One might rightly infer from that, perhaps, -that his name is not—Blaisdell.”</p> - -<p>Obviously, Doctor Devoll was more than ordinarily -discerning.</p> - -<p>Shannon had, in the meantime, returned to the man -waiting in the hospital office. He then had all the earmarks -of a well-trained butler, thoroughly conscious -of his dignified functions.</p> - -<p>“Pardon the delay, sir,” he said sedately. “Doctor -Devoll was talking by telephone with a patient. He -will see you. This way, sir.”</p> - -<p>Nick followed him through the main corridor, then -into a narrow diverging passageway, then down three -steps and through a second narrow entry, at the end -of which was the door of the physician’s private room. -Shannon knocked and then opened it.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Blaisdell, sir,” he announced.</p> - -<p>The detective entered and Doctor Devoll arose to -meet him, bowing and placing a chair.</p> - -<p>“Take a seat, Mr. Blaisdell,” he said blandly. “I’m -sorry to have kept you waiting. I was busy with the -telephone.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t mention it,” Nick replied. “I shall not take -much of your valuable time.”</p> - -<p>He sat down while speaking, and his trained eyes -quickly took in most of the details of the spacious, -handsomely furnished room. Two windows overlooked -the rear grounds. Each was entirely covered -with an interior, painted wire screen, which precluded -observation from outside, but through which one<span class="pagenum">[92]</span> -within could see plainly. There were roller shades -and shutters, also, that would insure privacy after the -lamps were lighted.</p> - -<p>The detective saw at once that he was in a rear -room in the main building. He could see the broad -sweep of the rear lawn, the back street in the near distance, -a gravel path leading out to it through the park, -evidently from a near rear door. He no sooner was -seated, moreover, than he saw something else—which -would have been seen and appreciated by only one detective -in a million.</p> - -<p>The broad, flat desk was between him and one of -the windows, the light from which struck the top of -the desk at an angle, causing a slight glare on its -smooth leather surface. Two spots that broke this -glare, however, apart from some books and papers -nearer the chair from which the physician had arisen, -instantly caught the detective’s eye.</p> - -<p>There was no mistaking the shape of them, nor -what had caused them. They were the broad outlines -of a man’s hands, outspread while he leaned over the -desk, and the moisture from which still lingered on -the smooth leather.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, I’ve hit a pair of liars!” thought Nick instantly, -though his strong, clean-cut face did not -change by so much as a shadow. “That fellow in livery -was leaning over the desk, with both hands spread -on it, directly opposite the chair from which this doctor -arose. The dampness from them has not yet dried -from the leather, nor would it have been imparted to -it unless the hands were there for several moments. -That’s an unusual and remarkably confidential attitude -for a servant. The telephone is in one corner and<span class="pagenum">[93]</span> -ten feet from the desk. I’ll wager, by Jove! that the -doctor was not using it, and that something else occasioned -the delay, possibly a conference concerning me -and my mission. Both lied about the telephone, as -sure as I’m a foot high, but for what reason?”</p> - -<p>Obviously, of course, these shrewd deductions were -mere impressions that flashed very swiftly through the -detective’s mind, rather than a process of deliberate -reasoning. Naturally, too, they instantly gave rise to -new and somewhat startling suspicions, which, with -characteristic self-control, Carter was careful to conceal.</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll had pattered around his desk, in the -meantime, and was taking the chair from which he -had arisen.</p> - -<p>“I am not busy just now, Mr. Blaisdell,” he said. -“I can give you what time you want. What’s the -trouble? You don’t look like a man afflicted with any -physical ailment.”</p> - -<p>Nick laughed lightly and shook his head, sizing up -with augmented interest this bald, thin-featured, -smooth-spoken physician who, so singularly and unexpectedly, -had now incurred his distrust.</p> - -<p>“No, nothing of the kind,” he replied. “If all men -were as strong and healthy as I am, Doctor Devoll, -those of your profession would find it hard sledding.”</p> - -<p>“That is fortunate for you, at least,” smiled the -physician.</p> - -<p>“My business with you relates to another matter,” -the detective added.</p> - -<p>“Private business—or so my man informed me.”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[94]</span></p> - -<p>“Concerning what?” Doctor Devoll’s narrow eyes -took on a searching squint.</p> - -<p>“I want to ask you about the girl who was found -unconscious in the hospital grounds late last night,” -Nick explained. “More precisely, I want your opinion -of her condition and the cause of it, as well as of -the three previous cases very closely resembling it. -It strikes me——”</p> - -<p>“One moment, sir,” Doctor Devoll interrupted. -“Why are you specially interested in the case?”</p> - -<p>“Is that material?” Nick inquired, smiling.</p> - -<p>“Quite so. I am not in the habit of discussing my -cases with strangers. I want to know to whom I express -an opinion, and for what reason and by what -right it is asked.”</p> - -<p>“Otherwise, Doctor Devoll, you do not express it?” -queried the detective, noting a subtle ring in the other’s -voice. “Is that what I am to infer?”</p> - -<p>“Exactly.” Doctor Devoll nodded. “Reticence -would denote a covert motive on your part in seeking -my opinion. I would not stand for that for a moment. -I must be met halfway or I will not discuss a case -with any visitor.”</p> - -<p>“That seems to be a consistent position, I’m sure,” -Carter admitted. “I will tell you, therefore, why I -am interested in this case. It was brought to my notice -by Chief Gleason, of the police department, at -whose request I am investigating it.”</p> - -<p>“You are a detective, then.”</p> - -<p>“Well, merely to that extent,” Nick allowed evasively.</p> - -<p>“I see.” Doctor Devoll stroked his black frock coat<span class="pagenum">[95]</span> -and drew up in his chair. “Let me ask you one more -question, Mr. Blaisdell.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly.”</p> - -<p>“Why is an investigation thought to be necessary?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you consider it wise?”</p> - -<p>“For the police to butt in?” Doctor Devoll said a -bit sharply. “I can’t say that I do.”</p> - -<p>“No?”</p> - -<p>“Why should they interfere? What was there in -either case that demands police investigation?” Doctor -Devoll curtly questioned. “A girl was overcome, -was addicted to a drug, or a dope of some kind, and -wandered into the hospital grounds. She was found -and brought in here. I revived her and she immediately -insisted upon going home. That’s all there was -to any one of the cases. Why, I repeat, do they require -police investigation?”</p> - -<p>“I cannot conceive, Doctor Devoll, that you have -any personal objection to an investigation,” Nick remarked -dryly, smiling again.</p> - -<p>A tinge of red leaped up in the physician’s cheeks. -A sharper gleam shot from his squinted eyes. He detected -a covert insinuation in his visitor’s tone. He -felt that he had said too much, perhaps, for he quickly -retorted:</p> - -<p>“Not the slightest objection, Mr. Blaisdell, not the -slightest objection. I merely fail to see why an investigation -is necessary. There are hundreds of dope -fiends in every large city, but in none of them have the -police a very great interest. Why their activity, then, -in these cases? What do they suspect?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you think that four such cases warrant suspicion?” -the detective blandly inquired.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[96]</span></p> - -<p>“Not more than the hundreds I have mentioned.”</p> - -<p>“But all were found in the hospital grounds,” Carter -pointed out suggestively.</p> - -<p>“What of that?” Doctor Devoll demanded. “A -coincidence. Nothing else. One may have been influenced -by having read of the others. There is no -accounting for the doings of a drug fiend.”</p> - -<p>“There is some truth in that,” Nick admitted.</p> - -<p>“Let it go at that, then,” said Doctor Devoll, with -a wave of his slender hands. “I wanted only to learn -your opinion, your grounds for suspicion. You now -are welcome to mine. I will answer any question you -care to ask.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” said the detective, who now was taking -a somewhat different course than he would have -shaped if he had detected nothing denoting duplicity -in the physician. “You think these girls were drug -fiends, do you?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know positively,” Doctor Devoll said -quickly. “I am not sure that the coma in which I -found them was the cause of a drug. There is a possibility, -of course, that the cause was a temporary -atrophy of the cerebral nerves.”</p> - -<p>“But you intimated to Sergeant Brady that they -were drugged,” Nick reminded him.</p> - -<p>“That was and still is what I suspect, but I am -not sure of it,” Doctor Devoll retorted. “I had not -time to look deeply into either case. My duty was to -restore my patient, which I succeeded in doing, and -each of them then insisted upon departing and going -home.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you detain them?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[97]</span></p> - -<p>“I had no right to do so. One may leave here as -soon as able. This is not a police station.”</p> - -<p>“But why didn’t you question them about their -habits, Doctor Devoll, and insist upon knowing their -names?” the detective asked more pointedly.</p> - -<p>“I did so in the last case.”</p> - -<p>“Why not in the others? It strikes me——”</p> - -<p>“Stop a moment,” Doctor Devoll interrupted, lurching -forward in his chair. “I run this institution, Mr. -Blaisdell, and I’m not going to be bothered in this way -nor have my conduct picked to pieces by the police. -When another case turns up, I would advise your -having her taken to headquarters. You then can call -another physician. Get him to restore her. He may -know more than I.</p> - -<p>“You can hold the girl, charge her with something, -frame her up in any way you like, which is quite in a -line with police methods, and, perhaps, you can force -her to impart all the information you want. I know -no other way by which you can learn the truth.”</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll arose with the last, signifying that he -would not prolong the interview. Carter had let him -run on without interrupting, noting his impatience -and a more threatening shrillness in his voice. He -decided not to question him further. He arose and -took his hat, saying with ominous quietude:</p> - -<p>“There is another way, Doctor Devoll, and I shall -find it. I’m going to dig out the whole truth, not only -in these cases, but also in the sudden mysterious death -of Gaston Todd. There is, I now feel sure, quite a -close relation between all of these cases and the many -mysterious robberies that have recently been committed -in Madison. I want the whole truth, Doctor<span class="pagenum">[98]</span> -Devoll, and I’m out to get it. Take it from me—I’ll -find the way.”</p> - -<p>“I wish you much success.” Doctor Devoll’s thin -lips took on a rather sardonic smile. “I wish you -much and speedy success, Mr. Blaisdell. This way, sir, -if you are going. Call again. I shall be interested -to know how you succeed and to learn the true inwardness -of these mysteries. Ah, here is my man. Show -Mr. Blaisdell the way, Shannon, if you please. Call -again, sir; call again.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you. I think it highly probable,” said Carter, -with singular dryness.</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll bowed, still smiling, and closed the -door, to which he had accompanied the detective.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter followed Shannon out by the way he -had entered, departing without so much as a word to -the burly attendant. There was a suspicious gleam in -the latter’s eyes, however, while he watched the departing -detective through one of the office windows. -Turning abruptly, as if hit with a sudden idea, he -closed the office door and then called up the police -headquarters by telephone.</p> - -<p>“Hello!” said he, with a voice very unlike his own. -“One of Carter’s assistants is talking from the Wilton -House. Do you know where I can find him?”</p> - -<p>A sergeant answered, one who happened to know -of Carter’s relations with the chief, but upon whom -the above inquiry made no impression and was not -afterward recalled.</p> - -<p>“I do not,” he replied. “He has not been here since -morning.”</p> - -<p>Shannon hung up the receiver; then arose and hurried -back to rejoin the physician.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[99]</span></p> - -<p>“I’m wise, Dave,” he announced, with an exultant -snarl. “I’ve nailed him.”</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll swung around from the fireplace, -near which he was standing.</p> - -<p>“Wise to what?” he demanded. “Do you mean -that you know him?”</p> - -<p>“You bet I know him. Brady, you remember, telephoned -to a man named Blaisdell last night, who is at -the Wilton House. It just struck me that Gleason has -employed outside detectives. There is just one crack -sleuth whom he most likely would want. I have -phoned to headquarters, saying I was his assistant and -asking if he was there. I was told that he was there -this morning. That does settle it. You have just -been talking, Dave, with the famous New York detective, -the worst ever—Nick Carter.”</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll started slightly and for a moment -appeared incredulous. Then his teeth met with a vicious -snap. His face changed as if he had been suddenly -turned to a devil incarnate.</p> - -<p>“You are sure of it, Shannon, sure of it?” he questioned, -with a sibilant hiss.</p> - -<p>“Dead sure, Dave,” Shannon insisted. “There’s -nothing to it.”</p> - -<p>“Nick Carter, eh? The worst ever, eh?” Doctor -Devoll gave way to a mirthless, derisive laugh. “We’ll -see about that. We’ll see about that, Shannon. He -shall find that he has met one worthy of his steel, one -who will balk, thwart, and laugh at him. Or, if need -be, Shannon, who will wipe him from the face of the -earth!”</p> - -<p>Shannon shrugged his broad shoulders and smiled -grimly. It was not the first time that he had heard<span class="pagenum">[100]</span> -such sentiments as these, and seen that same gleam -and glitter in the eyes of the man confronting him, -eyes with a glare like that of madness.</p> - -<p>“You will not quit, then?” he said inquiringly.</p> - -<p>“Quit!” Doctor Devoll sneered scornfully. “Only -curs and cowards quit, Shannon, and throw up the -sponge. Sit down at my desk. Sit down and write -what I dictate. Your hand will never be suspected.”</p> - -<p>Shannon obeyed him without a protest. He was -accustomed to yielding to this man, to obeying him -without question. He sat down at the desk, taking the -pen and paper which the physician provided. Half -an hour had passed when Doctor Devoll ended his -dictation and gave the other his instructions.</p> - -<p>Shannon arose and went to change his livery for -street attire.</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll, with face still reflecting his vicious -sentiments, gazed intently at his desk for several moments. -Then he started abruptly, having decided what -course he would shape, and hurriedly opened a safe -in one corner, taking from it a small rubber mask, -which he quickly adjusted over his mouth and nostrils. -Then he took from an inner compartment—a small -leather bag.</p> - -<p>Out of the latter he drew a crumpled handkerchief, -lady’s size, and hurriedly cast it with the bag into the -fireplace. A blue flame sprang up, hissing audibly, -denoting that the handkerchief was saturated with a -very volatile and inflammable substance of some kind. -The physician watched them burn, smiling sardonically; -then forced the charred remains deep among the -glowing embers.</p> - -<p>“Nick Carter, eh?” he muttered, relocking the mask<span class="pagenum">[101]</span> -in his safe. “He suspects me, does he? He’ll corner -me, will he? We shall see—we shall see!”</p> - -<p>When Shannon returned, he had a disguise in his -hand, which he was placing temporarily in his pocket.</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll started up from his desk with two -sealed letters, which he had hurriedly written. He -gave them to his attendant, saying sharply, with eyes -gleaming again:</p> - -<p>“This to Toby Monk. This to Tim Hurst. Be -wary when leaving the other, Shannon, both wary and -watchful. Nick Carter, eh? We shall see, Shannon, -we shall see!”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[102]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">NICK CARTER’S DEDUCTIONS.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>It was six o’clock when Nick Carter returned to -the Wilton House. Daylight was deepening to dusk. -The last editions of the local newspapers were out, -and the shrill voices of juvenile venders could be -heard from all directions. The detective glanced at -the papers, which in headline luridness proclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Leading Lawyer Suspected in Todd Murder! -Frank Paulding Arrested! Chief Gleason Sure of His -Man!”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter smiled faintly, but with a more threatening -gleam and glitter deep down in his eyes, when -these varied cries of the newsboys reached his ears. -He bought a paper from one, thrusting it into his -pocket, and entered the hotel.</p> - -<p>“Gleason has made good, all right,” he muttered -while seeking the elevator. “That will make it easier -for me, as well as all this, which is precisely what I -expected. But it’s up to me, by Jove! and must be -done quickly, or good night to my reputation.”</p> - -<p>He referred to what he had overheard while threading -his way through the unusual throng in the hotel -office. There was much excitement and only one matter -under discussion—the alleged murder, the mystery -shrouding it, the strange death of the victim, and -divers opinions regarding the suspected man.</p> - -<p>The detective went up to his suite, where, as he expected, -he found Chick and Patsy waiting for him, the -former eager to report what he had learned from<span class="pagenum">[103]</span> -Nellie Fielding. It took him only a few moments, -and apparently, as Chick had reasoned, it seemed only -to deepen the mystery. It brought a look of grim satisfaction, -however, to the face of the listening detective.</p> - -<p>“I cannot see that it sheds any light on the case,” -Chick added perplexedly.</p> - -<p>“It does, Chick, nevertheless,” Carter said confidently.</p> - -<p>“Does it dovetail with something you have discovered?”</p> - -<p>“You may judge for yourself. I’ll tell you what -I saw and learned during my call on Doctor Devoll.”</p> - -<p>He proceeded to do so, but the look of perplexity -still lingered on Chick’s face, and Patsy appeared dubiously -puzzled.</p> - -<p>“It is somewhat significant, if you are right, chief, -that both Doctor Devoll and his man lied to you,” -Chick said thoughtfully. “But I don’t see that what -the physician said to you or the position he took cuts -any ice.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t, eh?” returned Carter, smiling grimly. -“It cuts quite thick ice, Chick.”</p> - -<p>“Why so? I don’t get you.”</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz, chief, nor do I,” put in Patsy. “What -do you mean? Come across with it.”</p> - -<p>“First, a word about the girl, Nellie Fielding, and -what befell her,” said Carter. “It probably is precisely -what befell the others, and all were victims of -the same crook and his assistant. Just what game -he was playing and with what object remains to be -learned.”</p> - -<p>“But——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[104]</span></p> - -<p>“Wait a bit!” Carter cut in. “You’ll get me presently. -Nellie Fielding evidently told you the truth. -The mysterious bag was deftly slipped into her hand. -She did what the others did, when she could discover -no owner for it. She kept it until well away from the -crowd, then opened it to see what it contained. As -you have inferred, Chick, something in the bag, probably -that with which the handkerchief was saturated, -immediately overcame her. A very powerful and mysterious -gas may have been liberated from the bag, and -it naturally would have been inhaled by the girl when -she peered into it.”</p> - -<p>“That seemed to me the most plausible theory,” said -Chick.</p> - -<p>“It has become rather more than a theory,” Carter -replied. “I now am almost sure of it.”</p> - -<p>“For other reasons?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. To continue, it is safe to assume that the -girl was constantly watched. The moment she lost -herself, for she certainly lost consciousness to some -extent, at least, she was taken away by two men and -placed on the seat in the hospital grounds, then wholly -unconscious, where Policeman Donovan found her.”</p> - -<p>“Barclay was right, then,” said Chick. “That was -the cab seen by the artist.”</p> - -<p>“Undoubtedly.”</p> - -<p>“But why was the girl taken into the hospital -grounds?”</p> - -<p>“That’s one point,” said Carter. “So that, when -discovered, she would surely be taken into the hospital—where -Doctor Devoll would be the one to treat -her.”</p> - -<p>“You think——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[105]</span></p> - -<p>“One moment. Don’t force me ahead of my story. -These circumstances require careful and thorough -analysis.”</p> - -<p>“Go ahead, then.”</p> - -<p>“Bear in mind that Doctor Devoll treated all four -of these cases. He treated them successfully. They -did not appear to baffle him, or even mystify him, I -suspect. Bear in mind, too, that he did not detain the -girls, did not question them closely, or seek to learn -their names, even, with the exception of Nellie Fielding. -Remember, too, that the mysterious leather bag, -which Sergeant Brady knows was taken into the wardroom, -could not be found. Take it from me—Doctor -Devoll was the one who got away with it.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove! all that does appear deucedly suspicious,” -Chick now declared. “It may explain, too, Devoll’s -attitude this afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly, chief, is right,” cried Patsy. “Gee! things -are beginning to brighten up.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s go a step farther,” Carter continued. “All -of the mysterious robberies and holdups during the -past three months, which we were called here to investigate, -were of a very similar character, and all -bore a striking likeness to what befell Nellie Fielding. -The victims invariably were found unconscious -after the crime, though afterward were quite easily -restored, and all told the same story—that of being -confronted by a person who, in some mysterious way, -caused them to immediately lose consciousness and -then deliberately robbed them.”</p> - -<p>“You think all of these cases, then, were the work -of the same gang of crooks.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[106]</span></p> - -<p>“That is precisely what I think,” Carter said more -forcibly. “I am convinced of it by their similarity and -the mysterious means employed, which show plainly -that the knave back of the whole business is an exceedingly -capable and well-informed rascal. He must -be an expert in drugs, or have discovered some chemical -compound the quality and effect of which are not -known by other physicians and scientists.”</p> - -<p>“Do you suspect that Doctor Devoll is the criminal?” -Chick inquired.</p> - -<p>“I do not like his looks, his conduct in these cases, -or the position he took when I questioned him.”</p> - -<p>“But it seems really improbable that a man of his -prominence and profession would be engaged in such -knavery,” Chick argued.</p> - -<p>“That’s what every one would say, and it would -be deucedly difficult to convince them of his guilt,” -Carter replied. “That could be done only by producing -positive evidence of it.”</p> - -<p>“Very true.”</p> - -<p>“It may be equally difficult to find that evidence,” -Carter added. “It must be found, nevertheless, assuming -that I am right. In no other way can we -make good.”</p> - -<p>“True again,” Chick admitted.</p> - -<p>“I was very careful, therefore, not to betray that -I suspected him. I pretended to swallow all that he -handed out, and let it go at that. One word more, -now, and I will have covered all of the ground. That -relates to the Todd murder.”</p> - -<p>“What about it?”</p> - -<p>“The mystery is as to how and with what means it<span class="pagenum">[107]</span> -was committed. You know what the autopsy revealed——”</p> - -<p>“Next to nothing,” put in Patsy.</p> - -<p>“That’s the very point,” said Nick. “Chemical tests -may reveal the presence of poison. Doctor Marvin -thinks, however, and I am of the same opinion, that -Todd was killed with some kind of poisonous gas.”</p> - -<p>“Great Scott! that seems next to impossible,” Chick -declared. “Consider the time, the public place, and all -of the circumstances. Todd was telephoned to come -to the Waldmere Chambers and wait in the corridor. -It was done at a moment’s notice, so to speak, with a -view to incriminating Frank Paulding, if your suspicions -are correct. How in thunder could a poisonous -gas be administered to a man under such conditions?”</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz! it does look like an utter impossibility, -chief,” said Patsy.</p> - -<p>“Or the work of an exceedingly bold and accomplished -crook, the same crook who committed these -other mysterious crimes,” Carter insisted. “Their -similarity convinces me, as I have said, that all were -the work of the same man and same gang.”</p> - -<p>“That much does seem probable,” Chick allowed. -“There is no getting around it.”</p> - -<p>“And it’s up to us to get after them and find the -evidence needed to identify and convict them,” Carter -said flatly. “Now, Patsy, what have you learned? -Is there any man who might properly term himself -Todd’s running mate? That’s what the telephone girl -heard.”</p> - -<p>“I have not been able to find one, chief,” Patsy reported.<span class="pagenum">[108]</span> -“There seems to be no man with whom he -was specially friendly.”</p> - -<p>“Nor any tenant in the Waldmere Chambers whom -he was in the habit of visiting?”</p> - -<p>“Not that I could learn,” Patsy again replied in the -negative. “I questioned the janitor and several others. -Not one of them had ever seen Todd in the building. -So far as I could learn, chief, he never visited the -Waldmere Chambers.”</p> - -<p>“All the more reason, then, for suspecting that he -was lured there that day only to be killed.”</p> - -<p>“But I have learned one fact, chief,” Patsy added.</p> - -<p>“What is that?”</p> - -<p>“Todd had a suite here in the Wilton House for the -past two years. About a month ago, however, he -changed his quarters to the Studley. That is an -apartment house in Dale Street. His suite is on the -second floor.”</p> - -<p>“He may have had some secret motive for the -change,” Carter said thoughtfully. “The hotel may -have been too public a place for something in which -he was secretly engaged. We must look into that. No -investigation in his apartments has yet been made.”</p> - -<p>“We had better make one, then,” Chick suggested.</p> - -<p>“I was coming to that. You go there this evening -and see what you can find. Search for letters, papers, -or anything that might shed a ray of light on -the case.”</p> - -<p>“Leave it to me,” Chick nodded. “I’ll go through -his suite with a fine-tooth comb.”</p> - -<p>“Accomplish it secretly, however, if possible,” Carter -quickly directed. “I don’t want our doings and -designs suspected by the miscreants back of this<span class="pagenum">[109]</span> -knavery. I want to keep them in the dark as long -as possible.”</p> - -<p>“Leave it to me. I’ll turn the trick without being -seen,” Chick predicted confidently.</p> - -<p>“In the meantime, Patsy, you go at once to the -Osgood Hospital and watch for any move by Doctor -Devoll,” said Nick, abruptly turning to him. “My -visit may, if my suspicions are warranted, alarm him -into taking steps that would clinch them. Shadow -him, if he goes out, and watch him constantly.”</p> - -<p>“Enough said, chief,” cried Patsy, springing up to -get his hat. “He’ll be a good one, indeed, if he gets -by me with a move of any kind. I’ll soon have my -lamps on him.”</p> - -<p>Patsy did not wait for an answer. He was out -and away almost as soon as the last was said.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[110]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">THE MAN WITH A MASK.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Nick Carter met with a surprise when he went down -to dine with Chick, after the hurried departure of -Patsy Garvan. The office clerk, seeing them going -to the dining room, took a letter from a rack and -beckoned to the detective, saying, when he approached:</p> - -<p>“This appears to be for you, Mr. Blaisdell.”</p> - -<p>Nick took it and glanced at the pen-written address—Mr. -John Blaisdell, Wilton House.</p> - -<p>He saw that it was not stamped, however, and -wondered who had left a letter for him, instead of -seeking a personal interview. Much more to his surprise, -upon removing the inclosed sheet, he found that -it bore no signature and was addressed, not fictitiously, -but to—Mr. Nicholas Carter.</p> - -<p>“What’s the meaning of this?” he muttered, frowning. -“Has it leaked out that I am in Madison?”</p> - -<p>He lingered in the office and read the letter, while -Chick approached and joined him, noting his ominous -expression. For the letter read as follows:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. Nicholas Carter</span>: You may fool others with -a false name, but not the writer. He is not so easily -blinded. Your identity is known, also your mission, -but you are barking up the wrong tree and are booked -for failure. You will make the mistake of your life, -a fatal mistake, if you remain here and persist in the -work you have undertaken. It will cost you what -man holds most dear—your life.</p> - -<p>“I am very well aware, Carter, that you are not<span class="pagenum">[111]</span> -easily influenced by threats, and ordinarily ignore -them. I want to impress it upon you, therefore, that -I am not an ordinary person, and that I invariably do -what I threaten.</p> - -<p>“You will doubt my ability to do so. Your abnormal -bump of conceit will cause you to think you -can protect yourself and avert your impending fate. -Disabuse yourself of that idea. You cannot possibly -escape me.</p> - -<p>“On the other hand, Carter, I do not wish to wipe -you off the map unless you force me to do so. Don’t -make it imperative. Don’t fly into the face of fate. -Your safety lies in returning to New York and minding -your own business. Madison is too small for -both of us.</p> - -<p>“Lest you underestimate your danger and disregard -this warning, however, and that I may be spared needless -bloodshed, if possible, I will try to convince you -that I am right, that I am vastly your superior, and -that I hold your life in my hand. You are said to be -a past master of the art of detecting and preventing -crime.</p> - -<p>“On Thursday evening next an elaborate reception -and ball are to be held by the National Guards. Mrs. -Mortimer Thurlow will be among the guests. She is -very wealthy. She owns a superb rope of pearls. It -is worth eighty thousand dollars. She will wear it -that evening.</p> - -<p>“I am going to steal it.</p> - -<p>“I invite you to prevent me.</p> - -<p>“If you succeed, you will have convinced me that -you are capable of guarding yourself from the fate I -have threatened.</p> - -<p>“If you fail—you should be wise enough to realize -your peril and take my advice. I repeat it. Lose not -a moment in leaving Madison—or you will return to -New York in a coffin.”</p></div> - -<p>Nick Carter’s brows knitted closer while he read this<span class="pagenum">[112]</span> -threatening letter. He had turned so that Chick might -also read it, and the latter muttered, when both had -finished:</p> - -<p>“Great guns! Who the devil wrote that?”</p> - -<p>“It comes suspiciously soon after my call on Doctor -Devoll,” Nick said pointedly.</p> - -<p>“Do you think he sent it?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, of course, nor do I care.”</p> - -<p>“It’s an infernal bluff.”</p> - -<p>“Less a bluff than you suppose,” corrected Carter, -a bit grimly. “The writer means what he says.”</p> - -<p>“That he will kill you?”</p> - -<p>“If I give him a chance or don’t kill him.”</p> - -<p>“You will ignore it, and——”</p> - -<p>“And accept his challenge—surely!” Nick cut in. -“Wait one moment. I want to question Burton.”</p> - -<p>They had remained near the office inclosure, to -which he now turned and called the clerk, asking -quietly:</p> - -<p>“Who brought this letter, Mr. Burton? I see it is -not stamped.”</p> - -<p>Burton laughed a bit oddly and shook his head.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, Mr. Blaisdell,” he replied. “I found -it on the cigar case. I was somewhat mystified when -I saw it, for I had sold two men some cigars only a -moment before, and the letter was not there.”</p> - -<p>“One of them left it there, perhaps,” Nick suggested, -intending to get a description of the men, in -that case.</p> - -<p>“Impossible.” Burton spoke decidedly. “They -walked away before I closed the show case, and I saw -them leaving the house.”</p> - -<p>“Did you see any one else near the show case?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[113]</span></p> - -<p>“Not a person. I discovered the letter, nevertheless, -within a couple of minutes.”</p> - -<p>“How long ago?”</p> - -<p>“Not more than five minutes. I was intending to -send the letter up to your room. I hope the delay -is of no consequence,” Burton added.</p> - -<p>“None whatever,” Carter assured him. “Come, -Chick, we’ll go in to dinner.”</p> - -<p>“It’s plain enough that some one slipped in here -and seized an opportunity to leave the letter without -being seen,” Chick remarked.</p> - -<p>“That’s about the size of it.”</p> - -<p>“Will you do anything more about it?”</p> - -<p>“Not at present.”</p> - -<p>“Or change your plans?”</p> - -<p>“Not an iota,” said Carter decidedly. “I am not -to be intimidated by threats. I may decide, however, -to attend the ball of the National Guards. If Mrs. -Mortimer Thurlow wears her rope of pearls, and the -writer of this letter attempts to steal it, he will end -with having it stuffed down his knavish throat. Vastly -my superior, eh? We’ll see about that.”</p> - -<p>The detective thrust the threatening letter into his -pocket with the last, obviously averse to further discussing -it, and the subject was abruptly dropped.</p> - -<p>None could have sized up the letter more correctly -or more keenly have realized its full significance. -Carter knew that his identity had been discovered by -the very crooks he was seeking, by the evil genius directing -them, in spite of his precautions to prevent it. -He knew that a ball had been set rolling which, urged -on by the mysterious criminal forces back of it, would -tax his utmost powers to successfully oppose.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[114]</span></p> - -<p>It was about eight o’clock when Chick left the hotel, -suitably clad and well equipped for the stealthy work -assigned him. A brisk walk of about ten minutes took -him to Dale Street, in a desirable residential section, -and presently the lofty brick walls and numerous -lighted windows of the Studley, a somewhat exclusive -apartment house, loomed up on the opposite side.</p> - -<p>He paused and viewed it briefly, noting that a narrow -court flanked one end of the building. He saw -that there was no public office, also that the broad, -main entrance and vestibule were brightly lighted.</p> - -<p>“A suite on the second floor,” he said to himself. -“The windows don’t appeal to me. It ought not to -be very difficult to get into an unoccupied suite without -being seen. I believe it can be more easily done -from within than without. I’ll have a look.”</p> - -<p>Crossing over, he entered the vestibule and consulted -the tiny placards under the numerous electric -bells, on one of which he presently found the number -of Todd’s suite. At the same moment he heard the -heavy inner door opened, and two fashionably clad -women came out.</p> - -<p>“Pardon!” Chick approached them, instantly seizing -the opportunity presented. “If you will be so -kind, it will save me from using my key.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly.” One of the women smiled, while she -prevented the door from closing.</p> - -<p>The other eyed Chick a bit sharply, but he bowed -and murmured a word of thanks; then passed both -and entered, as complacently as if he owned the house.</p> - -<p>“Very opportune,” he muttered dryly. “They -would think me a crook, all right, if they were to see -the key I intended to use. Without having seen it, in<span class="pagenum">[115]</span> -fact, one appeared to have a vague impression that I -had no legitimate business here. I must contrive to -avoid other eyes.”</p> - -<p>He had closed the door and was gazing up a broad, -dimly lighted stairway while indulging in these reflections. -He could hear no sound from the corridor of -the second floor. He stole up noiselessly and found -it deserted.</p> - -<p>Glancing at the numbers on the nearest doors, he -quickly learned in which direction he must turn, and -he brought up within a minute at the door he was seeking—that -of the suite lately occupied by the murdered -man. It adjoined a diverging corridor, and its windows -overlooked the narrow court mentioned.</p> - -<p>In the meantime, for so fate sometimes brings opposing -forces together, and often with disastrous results, -a man moving with the stealth of an evil shadow, -which any chance observer would surely have thought -him, had entered the narrow court and paused under -one of the several small platforms some ten feet above -the ground, each the base of a rise of iron stairs forming -a fire escape.</p> - -<p>This man was clad from head to foot in black. It -seemed to mingle with the almost ebon gloom in the -court. He lingered only briefly. He quickly fastened -a black mask on his bearded face; then took a coiled -rope from under his coat. He cast it deftly around a -corner standard of the platform railing, up both -lengths of which he then drew himself, with the wiry -strength and agility of an ape. Kneeling on the platform, -he quickly drew up the rope and laid it aside; -then turned to crouch with a thin strip of steel at the -near window.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[116]</span></p> - -<p>It was at precisely the same moment that Chick -Carter, alone in the corridor, set to work with a picklock -to open the door of the suite. It took him about -a minute. The bolt of the lock was shot back with a -sharp, metallic sound—just as the fastening of the -window was forced aside with an audible snap.</p> - -<p>Each sound was mingled with the other. Each -stealthy intruder heard only that which he had caused. -The window was noiselessly raised, moreover, just as -Chick entered and quietly closed the door.</p> - -<p>He had stepped into a handsomely furnished parlor. -The other had entered a dining room. Between -the two rooms was an open door, with a drawn portière. -The feet of both men fell noiselessly on the -carpets and rugs.</p> - -<p>Chick moved toward the middle of the room and -took out his electric lamp. Its beam of light leaped -outward—just as the portière was drawn and a second -beam of light appeared.</p> - -<p>The two lenses were illumined at the same moment; -in fact, confronting one another like two startled, suddenly -opened eyes, with a glare that completely dispelled -the gloom.</p> - -<p>Two more astonished men seldom met. For an instant -the sudden glare blinded both.</p> - -<p>Chick’s first thought was that he had flashed the -light upon a panel mirror, reflecting it and himself. -On the instant, however, he saw the door, the black-clad -figure, the masked face and the glittering eyes -gleaming through it.</p> - -<p>“Great guns!” he gasped involuntarily. “Who are -you?”</p> - -<p>“Who are you?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[117]</span></p> - -<p>The question was echoed with icy composure by the -man backed by the swaying portière. His voice came -with a sinister, metallic ring through his black mask. -He did not stir from his position or move foot or -finger.</p> - -<p>Chick watched him to be sure of it. If a gun was to -be drawn, he was resolved to be the first to draw it. -He kept the glare of his searchlight on him, distinctly -revealing him, while the masked unknown used his -with like effect, but neither reached for a weapon. It -impressed Chick as one of the most singular and sensational -situations in which he had ever figured with -a solitary man.</p> - -<p>“What are you doing here?” he demanded.</p> - -<p>“What are you doing?” demanded the other.</p> - -<p>“That doesn’t answer my question.”</p> - -<p>“Nor have you answered mine.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t intend to answer yours,” Chick said sternly.</p> - -<p>“Nor I yours,” the masked man retorted coldly.</p> - -<p>Chick felt almost inclined to laugh. He would have -done so, if the case engaging him had been a less serious -one, his mission less important, and with no occasion -to conceal his visit. He frowned, instead, however, -and shaped another course.</p> - -<p>“You’d better change your mind,” he advised. “If -you don’t——”</p> - -<p>“Hold on,” snapped the “mask.” “Don’t you reach -for a gun. I can pull one as quickly as you and shoot -as straight. You keep your empty hand in sight or -you’ll be a dead one.”</p> - -<p>“You do the same, then,” Chick said sharply.</p> - -<p>“That’s what I’m doing.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[118]</span></p> - -<p>“Watch your step, then, and see that you don’t slip.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll watch you, all right. You can bet on that.”</p> - -<p>“You talk like a crook,” said Chick tentatively.</p> - -<p>“You’ve got nothing on me in that respect,” the -mask retorted dryly. “You sneaked in here like a -thief.”</p> - -<p>“But I’m not a thief—nor are you.”</p> - -<p>“Is that so?”</p> - -<p>“Not of the ordinary type. I’m hit with the truth.”</p> - -<p>“That beats being hit with a club. What’s the big -idea?”</p> - -<p>“I know, now, why you are here.”</p> - -<p>“Solomon had nothing on you, then.”</p> - -<p>“Not much.”</p> - -<p>“Come on with it. What’s the brainy hunch?”</p> - -<p>“You are one of the gang that killed Gaston Todd,” -Chick again said sternly, and the shot was not entirely -a random one. “You have come here to search -his rooms, and to see whether he has left evidence -that might expose you. You are here to find it and -get away with it.”</p> - -<p>“You’re a real Willie Wisewinker,” the masked man -said with a sneer, and a threatening hiss crept into his -voice. “But you have got nothing on me. I know -you, too, all right. You are one of the Nick Carter -bunch, out to cut a wide swath in Madison, if your -tools don’t go dull. You state only your own mission. -You are here to search for evidence, hoping -to find and get away with it unsuspected—but you -have slipped a cog. You’ll not search for it, much less -get it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I will,” said Chick, who now had decided -how he best could end the situation and quietly accomplish<span class="pagenum">[119]</span> -his object. “I’m going to get it, all right—and -get you.”</p> - -<p>“Get me, eh?” The masked man laughed icily. -“You have as good a chance of getting me as a hailstone -would have on a red-hot stove.”</p> - -<p>“That so?”</p> - -<p>“I know so.”</p> - -<p>“Why so confident?” Chick was edging nearer the -man by imperceptible degrees. “You must have pals -in the next room.”</p> - -<p>“No, no pals,” sneered the other. “I don’t need -any.”</p> - -<p>“You’re game to play a lone hand, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Bet you! I’m the gamest ever.”</p> - -<p>“Nevertheless, I shall get you.”</p> - -<p>“Not much! You have not a look in, not even the -ghost of a chance. You have not——”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t I? We’ll see.”</p> - -<p>Scarce six feet divided the two men, and Chick had -steadied himself for a lightninglike leap. He felt sure -that he could quickly overcome the unknown man, despite -his brazen assurance, if he could grapple with -him before a revolver could be drawn, the discharge -of which he wished to prevent, knowing it would -alarm the house and be contrary to his chief’s instructions.</p> - -<p>He leaped while he spoke, and covered the distance -with a single bound, dropping his searchlight.</p> - -<p>The masked man dropped his, venting a wolfish -snarl, and on the instant the two men were grappling -in close embrace in the almost inky darkness.</p> - -<p>Chick aimed to seize and confine both arms of his -antagonist, but in the sudden gloom he missed them.<span class="pagenum">[120]</span> -The masked man had instantly raised both above his -head, and the detective’s muscular arms closed only -around his black-clad figure.</p> - -<p>It was a lithe, wiry figure, one that Chick felt sure -he could crush and bend at will in his viselike embrace. -Contrary to what he expected, however, and which he -lurched to one side to avoid, no blow was dealt, no fist -fell upon his head, no fierce fingers sought his throat.</p> - -<p>Instead, the hands of the masked man dropped -quickly and found those of the detective.</p> - -<p>Then Chick felt a wire touch each wrist. Instantly -ten million needles seemed to have been thrust full -length into him. He tingled from head to foot with -excruciating pain. His every muscle relaxed as if palsied. -He gasped, tried vainly to shriek, and then the -darkness of the room was turned to that of utter oblivion—and -the masked man dropped him, as inert -as a bag of sand, on the carpeted floor.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[121]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">A MARATHON PURSUIT.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Patsy Garvan arrived at the Osgood Hospital soon -after six o’clock that evening, more than two hours -before Chick encountered the masked man in Gaston -Todd’s apartments.</p> - -<p>It then was dark, the sky clouded, with no stars -to reveal his stealthy movements to chance observers. -Only the scattered street lamps and the numerous -lighted windows of the great building, with those of -a few more distant dwellings, relieved the prevailing -gloom. It was even darker in the deserted grounds, -and Patsy took advantage of the trees and shrubbery, -entering the extensive estate near one corner, and -stealing quickly around the west wing toward a rear -part of the main building in which the private room -of Doctor David Devoll was located.</p> - -<p>Patsy knew from Carter’s description, nevertheless, -where to find him, and he presently paused near -the rear door and the gravel walk leading out to the -back street.</p> - -<p>“I must find out, to begin with, whether the blooming -sawbones is here,” he said to himself. “There are -the two windows of his room, all right, but there’s no -sign of a light. It looks very much as if he were -absent.”</p> - -<p>Hugging the wall, and stealing closer, nevertheless, -he cautiously crouched under the nearer of the two -windows and tried to peer into the room. He then<span class="pagenum">[122]</span> -found that the roller shade was lowered and an interior -shutter carefully closed, but through a chink -below them he could see the reflection of a dim light -on the varnished sill.</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz! he makes dead sure that no outsider -can see what’s doing in there,” thought Patsy. “He -may be in some other part of the hospital, since only -a dim light is burning. I’ll have to stick round till -I can get an eye on him.”</p> - -<p>As a matter of fact, however, Patsy had arrived -there in the nick of time. The light in the room was -suddenly extinguished. Half a minute later the sound -of a turning knob, that of the rear door, broke the -outside stillness, and, as quick as a flash, Patsy dropped -flat on the ground close to the building.</p> - -<p>He scarce had taken this precaution when the door -was opened and the physician came out. Though -Patsy never had seen him, Nick Carter had described -him carefully and there was no mistaking him. His -slender figure, invariably clad in a black frock coat, -which accentuated his leanness, was one very easily -identified. His smooth-shaven face was dimly discernible -through the darkness, while a considerable portion -of his bald, white skull could be seen in vivid -contrast under his tall, black hat.</p> - -<p>“Gee! I’m playing lucky, after all,” thought Patsy, -cautiously watching him. “That’s my man, all right, -and he’s bound off. The chief was right in thinking -he would make a move of some kind.”</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll had paused to lock the door with a -key taken from his pocket. He did not so much as -glance toward the window under which Patsy was -lying, as flat as he could make himself on the damp<span class="pagenum">[123]</span> -greensward. With his head and shoulders thrust forward -and his hands clasped behind him, an habitual -attitude when he was walking, Doctor Devoll proceeded -down the gravel walk toward the rear gate.</p> - -<p>At that moment, too, Patsy caught sight of an approaching -motor car in the back street. Its lamps -shone through the trees, and he could see that it was -slowing down to stop at the gate.</p> - -<p>“By Jove! I may not be as lucky as I thought,” -he muttered apprehensively. “If he leaves in that car -it will be a racking stunt for me to keep track of it. -I’ll make a bid to do so, all the same.”</p> - -<p>Rising noiselessly, he now darted after the physician, -stealing from tree to tree, and seeking a point -from which he could get the license number of the -car, and also a look at its driver. He saw him quite -plainly a moment later, a powerful man wearing a -slouch hat and with the collar of his overcoat turned -up, partly hiding his face, a face that immediately increased -Patsy’s suspicion.</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll paused and said a few words to him; -then entered the car and disappeared, for its leather -curtains were on and completely hid the interior. Then -the chauffeur threw in the clutch and the car moved -away.</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan appreciated the difficulties confronting -him, but he did not let them daunt him. Running -diagonally across the gloomy grounds, he vaulted the -low iron fence immediately after the car had passed -that point, so near that he could easily read the rear -number plate. He fixed the number in his mind; then -darted stealthily after the car, which was entering the<span class="pagenum">[124]</span> -narrow court through which Chick had passed that -morning.</p> - -<p>Sprinting after it at top speed, though at a discreet -distance behind and in the deeper gloom near the buildings, -Patsy followed the car into Belmont Street and -saw that it had turned toward a more brightly lighted -business section in the distance. He could see a passing -trolley car, also several slowly moving wagons, -all of which was somewhat encouraging.</p> - -<p>“They’ll have to slow down in that quarter,” he -muttered, already breathing hard from his exertions. -“That must be Main Street. It’s just the time when -the business thoroughfares are blocked with homeward-bound -teams. I may be able, after all, to keep -my quarry in sight. I must contrive in some way to -find out where this baldheaded suspect is going.”</p> - -<p>It appeared like a hopeless pursuit, nevertheless, -for the motor car was speeding much more rapidly -through Belmont Street and leaving Patsy farther and -farther behind, in spite of his utmost exertions. Suddenly, -too, it turned down a street running parallel -with Main Street, evidently seeking a less-congested -way.</p> - -<p>Patsy rushed on all the while, hoping to arrive at -the corner in time to keep the car in view, but he was -booked for failure. He paused, panting for breath, -and gazed vainly up and down the street. The only -vehicle to be seen was an approaching wagon nearly -a block away. Sprinting on to meet it, determined not -to be thwarted, Patsy shouted to the driver:</p> - -<p>“Did a motor car pass you half a minute ago?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” cried the teamster. “Some one stolen it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.” Patsy took the quickest and surest way<span class="pagenum">[125]</span> -to get the information he wanted. “Which way did -it go?”</p> - -<p>“Through the next street to the right, toward Main -Street. You’ll have to fly, kid, to catch it.”</p> - -<p>Patsy rushed on again, scarce waiting for the last, -but again he was marked for failure. He arrived at -the corner too late to see the car. Only the moving -people and vehicles in the electric glare in Main Street, -then only a block away, met his anxious gaze.</p> - -<p>“I’ll keep on, by thunder!” he muttered, instantly -resuming the pursuit. “It may have been held up for -a moment. It must have turned to the left, too, or it -would have gone direct if intending to cross Main -Street. I’ll not quit, by gracious! while there’s a -ghost of a chance to overtake it.”</p> - -<p>Patsy’s grit was good, but his quest proved vain -again, and he had no alternative but to end the futile -pursuit. He gazed with bitter disappointment up and -down the broad thoroughfare, still walking briskly -in the direction in which he knew the motor car had -gone, and, though he was not then aware of it, he -presently came to a crosstown street and trolley line -within a stone’s throw of the Waldmere Chambers.</p> - -<p>Then, as he was about to return to the hotel to report -to his chief, the gloom of disappointment was -suddenly dispelled. The motor car was passing rapidly -through the crosstown street. There was no mistaking -it—the same number plate, the same muffled -driver, the same closely curtained tonneau, yet in -which Patsy caught a mere momentary glimpse of a -solitary figure.</p> - -<p>“Holy smoke! I’m in luck again,” he said to himself, -with a thrill of elation. “The doctor must have<span class="pagenum">[126]</span> -stopped somewhere and now is off in a new direction. -This looks like soft walking, for fair, if they will only -follow the trolley line.”</p> - -<p>An electric car going in the same direction was passing, -and Patsy quickly boarded it, joining the motorman -on the front platform. Slipping him a bank note, -he said confidentially:</p> - -<p>“Don’t ask any questions, but help me to keep that -motor car in sight. Do you get me?”</p> - -<p>The motorman glanced at him with a look of surprise; -then thrust the bank note into his pocket and -grinned.</p> - -<p>“Sure I get you,” he replied. “No questions, eh? -That’s good enough for me, though they do say money -talks. I’ll do the best I can for you.”</p> - -<p>The automobile then was fifty yards in advance, but -the trolley car was unobstructed and rapidly gaining -speed through a street running straight toward an -outskirt of the city.</p> - -<p>“Good for you,” replied Patsy. “Only a mutt would -expect more.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll keep it in sight, all right, unless I get the bell -too often. But we’re not carrying many this trip.”</p> - -<p>“Where do you run?”</p> - -<p>“To Ashville, six miles from here. But we hit the -suburbs soon; then can cut loose, if necessary. Do -you know where the buzz wagon is going?”</p> - -<p>“If I did, I would not bother you,” smiled Patsy. -“I have reasons for wanting to find out, if possible. -Did you see the driver when he slipped in ahead of -you?”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t notice him.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t know who owns the car, then?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[127]</span></p> - -<p>“I don’t, but you can find out from the number.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got that in my head, all right,” Patsy nodded. -“I’ll look him up later.”</p> - -<p>The motorman glanced at him again, and wondered -at his interest in a car and persons whom he -did not know or even their destination. He kept the -trolley car moving rapidly, nevertheless, and, in spite -of an occasional stop to drop or pick up passengers, -he lost but little on the somber black touring car, the -tail light of which gleamed like a sanguinary eye -through the gloom in the near distance.</p> - -<p>A mile run took them into the suburbs, beyond -which was a stretch of almost open country, and Patsy -then had the satisfaction of seeing that the trolley -car was gaining on the other.</p> - -<p>Through this open country and into a belt of woods -the trolley car boomed on, and when nearly three -miles out it sped over the brow of a hill, and Patsy -quickly saw the lights of scattered dwellings amid -clumps of trees in the distance.</p> - -<p>“What place is that?” he inquired of the motorman.</p> - -<p>“Only a small settlement. There’s a stone quarry -over the hill on the left, and the workmen live in -those houses. That one off to the right is in a side -road running to Lakeville, where there’s pretty good -fishing and gunning in the season. It’s a road house -run by a man named Leary. I guess that’s where your -buzz wagon is going. It’s taking that road.”</p> - -<p>Patsy had an eye on it all the while, and saw that -the time had come for him to leave the trolley car. He -thanked the motorman again; then added:</p> - -<p>“Slow down when near that road and let me drop<span class="pagenum">[128]</span> -off without stopping. I don’t want a certain party to -hear the car stop. He might think he had been followed.”</p> - -<p>“I’m on,” said the motorman, laughing. “You -know your business, all right.”</p> - -<p>“I ought to,” smiled Patsy. “I was tutored by the -best in the business.”</p> - -<p>“I guess not,” said the motorman incredulously. -“There’s only one best—Nick Carter.”</p> - -<p>“So I have heard.”</p> - -<p>“Now’s your chance. So long, and good luck.”</p> - -<p>Patsy slipped through the folding door and sprang -down in the road, then darted to the shelter of a wall, -while the trolley car again sped on and presently -crossed the diverging road and approached the settlement -beyond it.</p> - -<p>A hundred yards to the right the lights of the road -house could be seen through the trees, also the brighter -glare from the motor car, then slowly approaching it.</p> - -<p>Patsy leaped over the wall; then hurried across a -strip of meadowland, quickly reaching a point from -which, sheltered by some shrubbery, he could plainly -see the broad driveway and front veranda of the old -and somewhat weather-beaten house.</p> - -<p>The automobile had stopped near the rise of steps. -The chauffeur was springing down to open the door. -Patsy could see him distinctly in the light from the -deserted veranda.</p> - -<p>“This bald-headed doctor may have legitimate business -out here,” he muttered, frowning grimly at the -mere thought of it and the possibility that his own -desperate efforts might prove futile. “If the chief’s -suspicions have feet to stand on, however, it’s a thousand<span class="pagenum">[129]</span> -to one that Doctor Devoll’s mission is a very different -and probably a very lawless one. It’s up to me -to clinch it and find out just what’s doing. If he’s -here to confer with others, or frame up a job, I’ll -find some way to overhear him——Thundering guns! -Am I in wrong, in dead wrong, after all?”</p> - -<p>Patsy felt a chill of disappointment and his heart -sank like lead. The door of the motor car had been -opened. The solitary occupant, and Patsy could -plainly see there was no other, was stepping down -upon the driveway. He was an elderly man with gray -hair and beard, with a compact, apparently muscular -figure, clad in a plaid woolen suit and soft felt hat—utterly -unlike the long frock coat and tall black hat -of the suspected physician.</p> - -<p>“In wrong, in dead wrong!” Patsy repeated, quite -crushed with sudden dismay. “That’s not my quarry—not -Doctor Devoll. He’s too straight, too erect, -too square and stocky, for Doctor Devoll. I’ve gone -lame, for fair, as lame as an army mule. That chauffeur -must have dropped the physician and picked up -another passenger.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[130]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">PROFESSOR KARL GRAFF.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Patsy Garvan’s disappointment was as deep and bitter -as one could imagine. He scarce could contain it, -in fact, and his first impulse was to bolt from his concealment -and demand of the chauffeur where he had -left Doctor David Devoll.</p> - -<p>Brief reflection, however, convinced Patsy that that -would be a fatal mistake, that the chauffeur might be -in league with the physician, after all, and that this -stranger who had unexpectedly alighted from the -motor car might also be one of Doctor Devoll’s confederates, -sent by him to his road house on a mission -which he had thought it indiscreet to personally -undertake.</p> - -<p>“I’ll hold my horses,” thought Patsy, with hopes -reviving. “There may be something doing, after all, -that will set me right. I’ll wait and see. He seems to -be giving that driver important instructions.”</p> - -<p>The two men had been talking quietly in the driveway, -too low for Patsy to hear so much as a single -word, but the elderly man now turned abruptly up -the steps and peered into the hall for a moment, and -then entered the house.</p> - -<p>The chauffeur closed the door of the car, then turned -and shot a searching glance in each direction, causing -Patsy to crouch lower in his concealment.</p> - -<p>Presently, approaching the corner, the driver gazed -toward the rear of the house, then started abruptly<span class="pagenum">[131]</span> -and walked completely around it, returning to the -same corner and taking a position from which he could -continue to watch the side windows, also the driveway -leading to the stable yard, on that side of the -house nearest to Patsy.</p> - -<p>It was a situation that now precluded any move -on Patsy’s part. To approach any of the windows, -or even to steal away and seek an advantage elsewhere, -was out of the question. Detection would be inevitable. -He had no alternative but to lie low.</p> - -<p>Minutes passed, and the chauffeur continued to wait -and watch, scarcely stirring from his position—all of -which convinced Patsy that his suspicions were correct, -that the elderly man was holding a conference -with some one and that the chauffeur was guarding -against spies outside.</p> - -<p>That he was right appeared in what occurred when -the elderly man entered the house. He met no one -in the hall, save an aged black cat, and he quickly entered -a side room, in which a solitary man was waiting -with an empty whisky glass on the table near which -he was seated.</p> - -<p>He was a tall man, close upon forty, very well clad, -having dark eyes and complexion, but a rather weak -cast of features. He was smooth-shaven. A combination -false mustache and beard had been removed and -was lying on the table. He looked up when the -other entered, saying a bit irritably:</p> - -<p>“Well, you’re here, Graff, at last. What kept you? -I’ve been waiting half an hour.”</p> - -<p>“But not idle!”</p> - -<p>Graff spoke with a fiery gleam leaping up in his -eyes. He was the same Professor Graff, chemist, with<span class="pagenum">[132]</span> -an office and a laboratory in the Waldmere Chambers, -who had appeared in the corridor soon after the corpse -of Gaston Todd was found, and who had blandly asserted, -when questioned by Nick Carter, that he was -not a physician and that his opinion regarding the fatality -would be worthless.</p> - -<p>There was no blandness in his low voice just then, -however, nor any such quality.</p> - -<p>“But not idle!” he repeated, with a fierce, sibilant -hiss, pointing to the whisky glass and then dashing -it to atoms in the fireplace. “You cut that out, Dorson, -while doing business with me. Booze is a damned -bad partner. It has brought you where you are and -made you my tool. Cut it out—entirely! Obey me, -Dorson, or—God help you!”</p> - -<p>A resentful scowl appeared on Dorson’s face, which -was not without signs of past dissipation, but the -frown vanished quickly under the fiery rebuke of his -companion. He pulled himself up, nevertheless, and -said sullenly:</p> - -<p>“I’m not so sure, Graff, that I’ll consent to be your -tool.”</p> - -<p>“Not consent?” Professor Graff sneered icily. -“What are you saying? You have consented.”</p> - -<p>“I can revoke——”</p> - -<p>“Not with me!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not so sure.”</p> - -<p>“I am.” Graff’s voice was cold, but his eyes were -like balls of fire. “There will be no revocation. You -will not withdraw from our compact.”</p> - -<p>“What’s to prevent me?”</p> - -<p>“Fear. If not fear—this.”</p> - -<p>Professor Graff thrust his hand into his pocket and<span class="pagenum">[133]</span> -drew a singular weapon. It resembled an automatic -revolver, with a cylinderlike device attached to the -barrel. There was no trigger, however, but only a -small, round button, on which the finger of the chemist -lightly rested. He displayed the weapon in his -hand, his lips parting with a mocking smile, while -Dorson started slightly and gazed at it incredulously.</p> - -<p>“This will, if necessary, be our arbiter,” Graff -sneered. “I can end you with it in the hundredth -part of a second.”</p> - -<p>“You would not dare,” gasped Dorson. “You would -bring Leary and the bartender. You would be caught -red-handed.”</p> - -<p>“There would be no red hand, no bloodshed, no -sound,” Graff retorted. “It makes no noise, discharges -no bullet. But the effect is no less deadly. I -could leave you here as if you had fallen lifeless from -your chair, or as if—perdition! Are you still doubtful? -You shall see.”</p> - -<p>There was something even more terrible in the aspect -of this man at that moment than in his threatening -words. He swung around quickly and quietly -opened the door. The black cat he had seen in the -hall still was there. He stepped out and seized the -animal, then returned and tossed him to a corner of the -room, closing the door.</p> - -<p>The black cat was gazing with dilated yellow eyes -at the lowering chemist, as if surprised at such extraordinary -treatment.</p> - -<p>“Watch!” Graff snapped fiercely, with one swift -glance at his horrified companion.</p> - -<p>He extended his right hand and the strange weapon. -His piercing gaze leaped over the glistening barrel.<span class="pagenum">[134]</span> -His finger pressed the round button in the cylinder. -There was a quick, explosive puff, yet hardly audible, -but the black cat dropped in a crumpled heap, with his -yellow eyes gone dim and glassy. The animal was -dead, as crimp and shriveled as if the hot breath of a -withering blight had passed over him.</p> - -<p>Dorson caught his breath convulsively and tried -to speak, but his voice seemed to die in his throat.</p> - -<p>Professor Graff kicked the lifeless cat farther into -the corner, then sat down directly opposite his ghastly -companion, as unconcerned as if nothing had transpired. -He replaced the mysterious weapon in his -pocket, saying coldly, yet pointedly:</p> - -<p>“It is a very handy thing to have when circumstances -make it necessary.”</p> - -<p>“It is devilish!” Dorson found his voice, shuddering, -and wiped the sweat from his brow. “It is fiendish!”</p> - -<p>“But convincing?” queried Graff, with searching -scrutiny.</p> - -<p>“Convincing—yes!” Dorson shuddered again. -“Enough has been done and said, but I wish I never -had seen you, never conspired with you.”</p> - -<p>“But, having done so, there can be no revocation, -no retreat,” Graff said sternly. “I have seen signs of -it, Dorson, and I have to convince you.”</p> - -<p>“Enough has been done and said,” Dorson repeated, -pulling himself together.</p> - -<p>“Besides, there are other reasons,” Graff added. -“We are up against a tough proposition, one that is -hourly becoming more threatening; but of that a little -later. We’ll get right down to business.”</p> - -<p>“The windows——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[135]</span></p> - -<p>“Fear nothing. Toby Monk is watching them.”</p> - -<p>“The door——”</p> - -<p>“None can approach it unheard. I have the ears of -a rat.”</p> - -<p>“Be quick, then,” said Dorson more calmly. “The -sooner we leave here, Graff, the better.”</p> - -<p>“Your identity has not been discovered?” questioned -the chemist quickly.</p> - -<p>“No, no, nothing of that kind. It is not even suspected.”</p> - -<p>“Nor will I be seen,” Graff said confidently. “I’ll -make sure of that, and have guarded against other -contingencies. Toby is disguised. His car bears a -false number. None will learn of our rendezvous, nor -even suspect it. Now, Dorson, have you brought the -invitations?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, two of them,” said Dorson, producing two -sealed envelopes and placing them on the table.</p> - -<p>“Good!” Graff seized them and put them in his -pocket. “From whom did you get them?”</p> - -<p>“I stole them from those with which my aunt, Mrs. -Thurlow, was supplied to dispose of,” replied Dorson. -“She is one of the sponsors for the affair, and that -was the only way to get them without disclosing the -names of the persons who are to use them. No one -will be admitted without a card bearing his name. -It’s an exclusive affair. Fictitious names can be inscribed -on these.”</p> - -<p>“Capital!” Graff nodded, smiling maliciously. -“What if your aunt misses them?”</p> - -<p>“She will think she mislaid them, and can easily -explain to the managers. Her word is good.”</p> - -<p>“None better,” Graff dryly admitted.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[136]</span></p> - -<p>“What more must be done?” Dorson questioned.</p> - -<p>“Take my final instructions.” Professor Graff drew -nearer the table and fixed his penetrating eyes on -those of his confederate. “You are in the social -swim, Dorson, and can execute them without incurring -the slightest suspicion.”</p> - -<p>“That was the agreement. You promised that no -harm should come to me.”</p> - -<p>“None will. Remember, too, that I promised you -ten thousand dollars for your share of the plunder. -That will more than pay your debts and set you on -your feet. It’s not a bad reward, Dorson, for a mere -bit of safe and important work.”</p> - -<p>“That’s the only inducement.” Dorson’s face was -haggard and clouded. “I’ll chuck everything, honor -and self-respect, in order to square myself. But what -is this safe and important work? What must I do?”</p> - -<p>Professor Graff took from his pocket a small celluloid -box with a close-fitting cover. He caressed -it fondly for a moment, with an abnormal gleam and -glitter in his narrow eyes, then leaned forward and -said impulsively:</p> - -<p>“Listen! You are to take this, but do not for your -life venture to open it before the fateful moment arrives. -The box is air-tight, but its cover can be easily -removed. It contains only a lady’s handkerchief.”</p> - -<p>“What am I to do with it?” Dorson asked, gazing -curiously at the smooth white box.</p> - -<p>“Take it to the reception,” Graff directed. “You -are familiar with the ballroom and its surroundings, -with the row of French windows that open upon the -west balcony roof near the porte-cochère.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[137]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, of course,” Dorson said impatiently. “I -know all that.”</p> - -<p>“Note me, then,” Graff continued. “I will be at -the ball to give you a signal. We must not be seen -together, however, nor in any way betray that we are -acquainted.”</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“Upon getting my signal, which you will receive -at an opportune moment when she is alone, you must -immediately join Mrs. Mortimer Thurlow, at the same -time stealthily opening the box and removing the -handkerchief.”</p> - -<p>“And then?”</p> - -<p>“Give it to her at once, without a moment’s delay, -and remark she dropped it,” said Graff. “She will -infer that it is her own. If not, she will at least raise -it toward her face to examine it. Step back a little, -meantime, covering your nostrils, that you may inhale -no appreciable quantity of that with which the handkerchief -is impregnated.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the stuff?” growled Dorson, brows knitting.</p> - -<p>“Do not be curious.” Professor Graff spoke with -a frown. “I have confederates, but to none do I confide -my secrets. Take my instructions—and obey -them.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what more?”</p> - -<p>“Watch the woman,” Graff continued. “Only her -eyes will change perceptibly. A fixed expression will -immediately appear, and her pupils will contract to -mere pin points. Take her arm, then, and lead her -out through the nearest French window.”</p> - -<p>“Suppose she refuses to go, or——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[138]</span></p> - -<p>“She will not refuse or do anything else,” Graff interrupted. -“She will go willingly and without a word -or a subsequent recollection of what occurs. Place -her in the nearest chair on the balcony. Get the handkerchief -and return it to the box, then hasten to the -ballroom and go after a glass of water. You can -afterward assert that she sent you for it and said -she felt faint. She will admit it, for she will remember -nothing and cannot consistently deny it.”</p> - -<p>“But the pearls?” Dorson questioned, eyes glowing. -“What of the rope of pearls?”</p> - -<p>“There will be no rope of pearls.” Graff’s teeth -met with a vicious snap. “All that must be done can -be done in a single minute. When help comes, when -you return, when the woman revives, though all occurs -within a minute, there will be no rope of pearls. It -will have been stolen—mysteriously stolen.”</p> - -<p>“But I may be suspected,” argued Dorson.</p> - -<p>“Absurd! You could not possibly steal and dispose -of it under the seeming conditions. The woman -will believe she was faint only for a moment. She -will not be sure it was then that she lost the pearls. -She is your aunt, moreover, and would refuse to -suspect you.”</p> - -<p>“But your infernal stuff may fail to work,” Dorson -suggested.</p> - -<p>“It will not fail. It cannot fail.” Graff spoke with -convincing assurance. “I have tested it upon no less -than four subjects, Dorson, to make sure of success -in this undertaking. There is nothing for you to fear, -absolutely nothing.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tackle it, then, and take the chance.” Dorson<span class="pagenum">[139]</span> -abruptly declared, thrusting the celluloid box into his -pocket. “Is there anything more?”</p> - -<p>Professor Graff hesitated for a moment, then shook -his head.</p> - -<p>“No, nothing for us to discuss,” he replied.</p> - -<p>“But you mentioned a tough proposition that you -would speak of presently. What did you mean by -that?” Dorson demanded suspiciously.</p> - -<p>“Only that an unexpected force is at work against -us, one that many would fear, and with which few -could successfully cope.” Graff’s voice took on a -more virulent intensity. “But I do not fear. I can -oppose and overcome it. My agents are already at -work. I have given warning, too, as I have warned -you, and if pressed too hard, if threats prove futile, -if the peril becomes really alarming—well, you see! -You have seen for yourself, Dorson, how I can overcome -it. There is always a way—always a way.”</p> - -<p>Graff had swung around in his chair and was pointing -to the lifeless black form in the corner.</p> - -<p>Dorson gazed at him, at his extended hand and -quivering fingers, at his drawn, bearded face, indescribably -malevolent, and with that terrible abnormal -gleam and glitter in his frowning eyes, and Dorson -felt, with blood chilled and flesh gone cold and -clammy, that he was gazing at a madman or a devil -incarnate.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, I have seen enough, Graff, more than -enough,” he said hoarsely, lips twitching. “What -more need be said?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing more.” Professor Graff turned coldly -calm again. “You have my instructions. I know you<span class="pagenum">[140]</span> -will obey them. We must not meet again until after -the trick has been turned, and then only secretly.”</p> - -<p>“That suits me. Let’s be moving.”</p> - -<p>“How did you come out here?”</p> - -<p>“In a trolley car.”</p> - -<p>“You may return part way with me. I’ll drop you -before entering town. Resume your disguise, then -see whether the hall and veranda are deserted.”</p> - -<p>Dorson arose and hastened to obey. He returned in -a few seconds, saying quietly:</p> - -<p>“Come on. There’s no one around.”</p> - -<p>There was one still around, nevertheless, still lying -low amid the rank grass and shrubbery that had served -to conceal him.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[141]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">VAIN INQUIRIES.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Patsy Garvan had been waiting and watching about -fifteen minutes, the circumstances precluding any further -action, when he saw the two men come out of the -road house.</p> - -<p>They hurried down the steps and entered the motor -car. Toby Monk, the chauffeur, also saw them, -and ran to resume his seat at the wheel. They were -away within half a minute, departing with very significant -haste and returning to Madison at a rate of -speed precluding pursuit, but leaving Patsy gazing -with an ominous frown after the rear red light till -it vanished in the distance.</p> - -<p>“That does settle it,” he muttered grimly. “I’ve -lost track of them for a time, at least, in spite of anything -I can do. But I’ve got the number of that car, -all right, and I’ll identify them later as sure as there’s -juice in a lemon. I can find out, perhaps, by inquiring -of some one in the house. The third man may -hang out there, however, and I might get in wrong. -I think I can turn the trick at that, without incurring -suspicion,” he added to himself after a moment’s -thought. “I’ll take the chance, by gracious, let come -what may.”</p> - -<p>Leaving his concealment, he walked out to the driveway, -where, having made sure there were no observers, -he threw himself on one side in the sand and dirt -and ground the palm of his right hand into the gravel,<span class="pagenum">[142]</span> -a performance that might cause one to wonder what -advantage could be derived.</p> - -<p>Patsy knew, however, and he immediately arose -and entered the road house. Though the hall still -was unoccupied, he could hear the voices of men in -the rear rooms, also the clinking of glasses, and he -rightly inferred that there was a public bar in one of -the rooms. He hastened thither and entered, with -a pretense of brushing his soiled garments and with -an indignant frown on his face.</p> - -<p>“Say!” he exclaimed, approaching a bar on one -side of the room. “Who are the ginks that just left -here in a buzz wagon?”</p> - -<p>Three men were playing cards at a table in one -corner, evidently quarry workmen from the near settlement, -each with a mug of ale at his elbow. Back -of the bar stood a burly man in his shirt sleeves, with -a much-bloated and pimply face, the redeeming feature -of which was an expression of habitual good -nature. He gazed at Patsy and laughed, replying to -his impetuous question, but the three card players -merely glanced at him.</p> - -<p>“Buzz wagon, eh?” he said huskily. “I didn’t know -one was here.”</p> - -<p>“Well there was.”</p> - -<p>“Funny I didn’t hear it.”</p> - -<p>“I came near feeling it, all right,” grumbled Patsy, -displaying his soiled hand. “It came out to the road -as if shot from a gun. It nearly ran over me. I -fell down while dodging it, as you see, but I reckon -I was lucky to get away with that. You don’t know -them, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Mebbe ’twas the bloke who rang for the booze,<span class="pagenum">[143]</span> -Jim,” suggested one of the players, looking up. “Have -you forgotten him, Leary?”</p> - -<p>“The man who runs the house,” thought Patsy; -then, as if the identity of the visitors was of no great -consequence, he said agreeably: “I’ll have a mug of -ale. See what these gents will have and get in yourself.”</p> - -<p>The invitation was readily accepted by all, and -Patsy paid willingly, thus paving the way for further -inquiries.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to Madison,” he said, in reply to a question. -“I came from Ashville on the trolley line. How -soon can I hit another?”</p> - -<p>“Twelve minutes, if she shows up on time,” said -Leary, glancing at a nickel watch. “It might have -been the man in the side room. I’ll have a look.”</p> - -<p>“Twelve minutes, eh?” said Patsy, more quickly -drinking his ale when Leary swaggered out from the -bar and into the hall. “That’s not long. I don’t want -to miss it.”</p> - -<p>He added the last to warrant his following the burly -proprietor, who obviously was so void of distrust that -Patsy very soon decided that none of these men had -had any intercourse with the two visitors and very -probably knew neither of them.</p> - -<p>“No danger of missing it,” replied Leary, as they -approached the side room. “The motorman always -stops on the corner and rings his gong. He often -picks up a bunch from here.”</p> - -<p>“I see,” returned Patsy pleasantly. “I needn’t be -in any rush, then.”</p> - -<p>“No rush at all.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll have time for another drink?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[144]</span></p> - -<p>“Sure thing. Time enough for——Huh, I’m -blessed if Kelly wasn’t right! The bloke has gone.”</p> - -<p>Leary had knocked on the door, and then opened -it. He entered while speaking, Patsy following, and -again asking carelessly:</p> - -<p>“Didn’t you know the man? Was he a stranger -here?”</p> - -<p>“Sure he was.” Leary turned and gazed at him. -“I didn’t know him from a hole in the wall. He must -have known this room was for customers, though, -for he nailed it and rang for a drink.”</p> - -<p>“He must have been here before, then, or he -wouldn’t have known it,” said Patsy.</p> - -<p>“That’s right, too.” Leary nodded. “I brought -him the booze he ordered, and then he said he wanted -to wait for a friend and have a private talk with him. -He chucked me a buck for the booze and told me -to keep the change. That looked good to me and like -more coming, so I told him he could stay as long as -he liked, and would not be interrupted.”</p> - -<p>“I see,” said Patsy, now sure that Leary was telling -him the truth. “His friend came, all right, and -they went away together. There were three in the -car when——”</p> - -<p>“But where’s the booze glass?” cried Leary, who -now had turned toward the table. “That ought to be -here. They would not steal a whisky glass, unless——”</p> - -<p>“Stop a bit!” Patsy interrupted. “It was thrown -into the fireplace. Here are pieces of it, and—holy -smoke! This cat is dead!”</p> - -<p>Patsy had caught sight of it a moment before, and -he at first had thought the animal was asleep. A second<span class="pagenum">[145]</span> -look, however, evoked the last startling exclamation -and brought Leary to his knees near his lifeless -pet.</p> - -<p>“Good God! What’s the meaning of this?” he -growled, with a scowl, convincing Patsy of his sincerity. -“Dead as an iron bolt! What’s the meaning -of it?”</p> - -<p>“Has the cat been sick?” Patsy inquired.</p> - -<p>“Sick—no!” cried Leary. “There’s been nothing -the matter with him. He was getting a bit old, but -was well enough. Poor old Gimblet!” Leary added, -with genuine feeling.</p> - -<p>“Was he in this room when you were here?” asked -Patsy.</p> - -<p>“No. He was asleep in the hall.”</p> - -<p>“He may have wandered in here.”</p> - -<p>“How could he? The door was closed.”</p> - -<p>“H’m, is that so?” Patsy murmured, as puzzled -as the other and much more suspicious.</p> - -<p>“He’s dead, all right, as a smelt.” Leary now -turned the animal over. “But I’ll be hanged if I can -see why the booze glass was smashed or why the cat -should have died. Something must have killed him. -Say, you don’t s’pose they gave him poison in that -glass, then smashed it, do you?” he added, quickly -turning to Patsy. “If I thought that, I’d go after -those mongrels with a gun, by thunder, and stick till -I got them!”</p> - -<p>This possible fate was suggested to Leary by a -momentary expression that had passed over Patsy’s -face. He had detected a peculiar, shriveled appearance -in the fur on the cat’s breast and neck, and it -instantly recalled to his mind what his chief had said<span class="pagenum">[146]</span> -concerning the man found dead in the Waldmere -Chambers two days before.</p> - -<p>Patsy concealed his immediate misgivings, however, -but pretended to be impressed with Leary’s suggestions.</p> - -<p>“That may explain it, Mr. Leary, if they had any -reason for wanting to kill the cat,” he replied. “The -fellow you saw probably did not do it. More likely -the old man was the one who killed him.”</p> - -<p>“What old man?” Leary demanded, with a vengeful -glare in his eyes.</p> - -<p>“The one I saw in the motor car,” said Patsy, now -aiming only to identify him, if possible. “He’s quite -a stocky man, with gray hair and whiskers. He wore -a plaid suit and soft felt hat. His chauffeur was bigger -and broader, with dark hair and a pointed beard. -I got a look at them when they flew by me.”</p> - -<p>“I dunno any such men,” Leary earnestly protested. -“The whole business beats me to a frazzle.”</p> - -<p>“It does seem a bit strange,” Patsy allowed. “You’ll -find out later, perhaps. I reckon I’ll be getting a -move on, as I don’t want to miss that car. I’m sorry -you have lost the cat. I’ll drop in again, when I’m -returning to Ashville.”</p> - -<p>“All right, kid,” said Leary, brightening up and following -Patsy to the door. “If you see those two -blokes again, do me a favor, will you?”</p> - -<p>“What’s that, Mr. Leary?”</p> - -<p>“Get the truth out of them, if you have to get it -with a club.”</p> - -<p>“I will,” Patsy promptly assured him. “Take it -from me, Mr. Leary, I’ll get it—and all there is to -it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[147]</span></p> - -<p>“Good for you!” Leary shouted after him heartily.</p> - -<p>For Patsy already was hastening toward the road -leading out to the trolley line, something like a hundred -yards away. He had seen plainly that he could -learn nothing more at the road house. The negative -reports he had obtained, however, together with -the startling discovery he had made, convinced him -that his mission had not been a futile one.</p> - -<p>“Leary’s all right,” he said to himself while walking -on rapidly. “He told me all he knows and gave -it to me straight. That rendezvous had been agreed -upon and the road house selected for a safe place. But -who are they and what came off in there? Why was -the whisky glass broken and the cat killed? In view -of all of the circumstances, by Jove, there’s a mighty -strong similarity between that fatality and the killing -of Gaston Todd. It becomes doubly important now -to trace and identify these rascals, and I reckon I’m -in a fair way to accomplish it. All this, moreover, -seems to put Doctor Devoll in the background. That -is, if I size it all up correctly. I’ll hike back to the -Wilton House, by Jove, and report to the chief.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[148]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">CRAFT AND FORESIGHT.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Nick Carter’s strong, clean-cut face took on a more -serious expression while he listened. It was half past -eight when Patsy returned, just as Nick was about -leaving the Wilton House, and only half an hour after -Chick set forth to search the apartments of Gaston -Todd.</p> - -<p>“That’s all, chief,” said Patsy, when ending his report. -“As far as I can see, it lets Doctor Devoll out -of the circle of suspicion and rings in another, no -less than three, in fact—the chauffeur, his elderly passenger, -and the man he met at the road house. For -I’ll wager my pile, chief, that the chauffeur knew there -was something doing and was acting as a sentinel.”</p> - -<p>“Are you absolutely sure that the elderly passenger -was not Doctor Devoll?” Nick inquired.</p> - -<p>“Reasonably sure, chief, at least,” said Patsy confidently. -“He is too solid and compact for Devoll, -more erect and with broader shoulders. Devoll is -somewhat bowed and very slim. He looks like a -string bean.”</p> - -<p>“He may have disguised himself while in the motor -car,” Nick suggested.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think so,” Patsy quickly objected. “He -would hardly have covered all of the features mentioned. -Besides, I could see the interior of the car -distinctly when the door was open, and I would have -seen his discarded hat and garments.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[149]</span></p> - -<p>“That does seem probable,” Carter thoughtfully -admitted. “Don’t you overlook one fact, however?”</p> - -<p>“What’s that, chief?”</p> - -<p>“That you saw Doctor Devoll leave the hospital -and ride away with the chauffeur. You could not -then have been mistaken as to the physician’s identity, -and the circumstances convince me that he is in -some way associated with the two men who met in -the road house.”</p> - -<p>“I think so, too, chief, as far as that goes,” said -Patsy.</p> - -<p>“It appears probable, too, that the chauffeur is one -of the gang,” Carter added. “Also that we are up -against more of a gang than I have suspected. I at -first was inclined to attribute the many mysterious -robberies here, as well as the killing of Gaston Todd, -to a single exceedingly crafty and accomplished -crook. I now believe, however, that he is the chief -director of a gang, instead of at work alone.”</p> - -<p>“That must be right, too,” nodded Patsy. “There’s -no getting around it.”</p> - -<p>“But here’s another point,” said Carter. “The -mysterious killing of Leary’s cat, whatever the motive -of it, and the similar strangeness in connection -with the murder of Todd denote that both were committed -by the same man or some of his gang.”</p> - -<p>“That’s how I size it up.”</p> - -<p>“You are sure, however, that neither of the men -at the road house was Doctor Devoll,” Nick continued. -“I may in that case be mistaken in thinking he -is the man behind the gun, the evil genius back of -the whole business. There may be another, and Doctor -Devoll only indirectly associated with him.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[150]</span></p> - -<p>“You mean the elderly man who took Doctor Devoll’s -place in the motor car?”</p> - -<p>“Exactly.”</p> - -<p>“Devoll may have sent him out to the road house -to meet that other fellow,” Patsy suggested.</p> - -<p>“Possibly,” said Nick. “It is more probable, however, -that Devoll informed him of my visit this afternoon -and of the threats I made. The other may have -become alarmed and set about thwarting my designs. -All this appears the more probable, Patsy, because -that threatening anonymous letter and all these very, -significant episodes have followed so quickly after my -call on Doctor Devoll.”</p> - -<p>“Right again, chief, as sure as I’m a foot high,” -Patsy declared. “It’s long odds, too, that the road-house -conference was held only to frame up a job -on you.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not so sure of that,” his chief replied. “They -may have met to plan the theft of Mrs. Mortimer -Thurlow’s pearls or to alter plans made before the -threatening letter was sent to me.”</p> - -<p>“Mebbe so,” Patsy allowed. “It’s a pity I couldn’t -overhear the discussion and see what came off.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll make use of what you have discovered, not -mourn over what was impossible,” said Carter dryly. -“We must now contrive to identify those three men. -All wore beards, you say?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Possibly, then, all were disguised. You have the -number of the motor car, however, and that may -help, barring trickery of some kind. Such crafty -rascals as these don’t often let a license number expose<span class="pagenum">[151]</span> -them. There is a possibility, nevertheless, that -they overlooked it.”</p> - -<p>“The chance is worth taking.”</p> - -<p>“Surely. You go over to the garage and see what -you can learn,” Carter directed, rising and taking his -hat. “I have other business in the meantime, and -will return about ten o’clock. Chick then will have -shown up perhaps and have something to report. Get -your information on the quiet, mind you.”</p> - -<p>“Trust me for that, chief,” said Patsy, as they were -leaving the room together.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter’s other business, or part of it, consisted -of keeping a promise he had made the previous -morning. He called at the city prison, confiding -his identity and mission to the warden, and -was promptly accorded an interview with Frank -Paulding in the warden’s private office.</p> - -<p>Nick did not expect, however, that Paulding would -have any information to impart. He called on him -only because of his promise and to say a few words -of encouragement to the suspected man, also to direct -him to maintain the negative position he had -taken.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ll continue to do so, Mr. Carter, as I agreed -with you yesterday morning,” Paulding assured him. -“It’s a bitter pill for an innocent man to swallow, -but I’ll not weaken. I’ll stick, sir, as long as I know -you are working for me.”</p> - -<p>“You may depend upon that,” the detective said -simply.</p> - -<p>“Thank Heaven, too, there is one rift in the clouds,” -Paulding added.</p> - -<p>“What is that?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[152]</span></p> - -<p>“A letter from Edna Thurlow. It came this morning. -She expresses her sympathy for me, her belief -that I am a victim of circumstances, and assures me -of her absolute faith in my innocence.”</p> - -<p>“Good for her!” said Carter, smiling. “It’s very -significant, too.”</p> - -<p>“Significant?”</p> - -<p>“Surely,” laughed the detective. “A girl writes -like that only to one she loves. You were not quite -sure of it, you remember. This ought to convince -you and really make it worth while to be suspected.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not sure but it does,” replied Paulding, brightening -up. “I do regret one restriction, however, that -you have imposed on me. It’s a thorn in my flesh.”</p> - -<p>“I know it,” said the detective tersely.</p> - -<p>“You know it? How the deuce can you know it? -You don’t know to what restriction I refer.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I do.” Nick laughed again. “Though -not a lover, I know how lovers feel. You itch to relieve -Miss Thurlow’s anxiety by telling her of our -relations.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, you’re a keen cuss, Carter!” Paulding -declared, now joining in the detective’s laugh. -“You’ve called the turn, all right, but itch doesn’t -express it. Really, I ache to do so.”</p> - -<p>“Well, stop aching,” Nick said dryly, rising to go. -“I shall see Miss Thurlow this evening, and will tell -her all that she needs to know.”</p> - -<p>“See her!” Paulding sprang up, eyes glowing. “Oh, -I say, then——”</p> - -<p>“No, no, don’t say it,” the detective cut in with -affected alarm. “I’ll not take any love messages to -her. I draw the line at that. I have passed that<span class="pagenum">[153]</span> -stage, you know, and would only make an awful mess -of it, to say nothing of making a fool of myself. I -will tell her enough, Paulding, however; so rest easy -with that until I can see you again.”</p> - -<p>Nick left him with a much lighter heart than when -he had entered, which was what he chiefly desired, -but his mission to the Thurlow residence was of -greater importance.</p> - -<p>It was nine o’clock when he arrived at the house, -one of the most costly and beautiful dwellings in Madison. -He was admitted by an elderly butler, who invited -him to a seat in a handsomely furnished reception -room.</p> - -<p>Nick had given him a card on which he had written -only his first name, stating that he called on important -business, and he had been waiting only a few -moments when a graceful, strikingly pretty girl in an -evening gown joined him, still with the card in her -hand.</p> - -<p>“Good evening,” she said agreeably, with an inquiring -look in her blue eyes. “I am Miss Thurlow, -Mr. Nicholas, but I infer that your business is with -my mother. She has gone up to her room, but I -have sent for her to come down. Your name does not -suggest any business which——”</p> - -<p>“It might, perhaps, if I had written my full name—Nicholas -Carter,” he interposed, bowing and smiling.</p> - -<p>“Nicholas Carter!” gasped Edna, staring at him. -“Not the famous New York detective?”</p> - -<p>“Well, yes, thanking you for the complimentary -adjective.”</p> - -<p>“Good heavens!” exclaimed Edna amazedly. “Are<span class="pagenum">[154]</span> -you a wizard? Do you ride on the wind? How did -you get here so quickly?”</p> - -<p>“Get here?” queried Carter, though he at once -guessed the truth. “You were expecting me then?”</p> - -<p>“Well, not so quickly, of course,” said the girl. -“But I telegraphed to you no less than an hour ago, -asking you to come immediately to Madison. I did -not suppose you could cover hundreds of miles in as -many seconds. I thought when the bell rang that -you had wired back, and this name on the card meant -nothing to me. Really, Mr. Carter, I am quite mystified.”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter laughed pleasantly, and replied:</p> - -<p>“I will presently explain. Why, may I ask, did you -send for me to come to Madison?”</p> - -<p>“I want you to investigate a very mysterious murder,” -Edna now earnestly explained. “A very dear -friend of mine is suspected and is under arrest. I -am sure he is innocent, however, absolutely sure; but -I can see no way to prove it. I want you to find a -way. Money is no object, Mr. Carter, for he is very -dear to me and——”</p> - -<p>“Pardon.” Nick checked her more gravely. “It -would be unkind for me to leave you in the dark and -let you continue to speak so feelingly. I know all -about your friend. I left him only a few minutes -ago. Like you, too, I know that he is innocent. I -already am at work to prove it, Miss Thurlow, and -Paulding has from the first been acting under my instructions.”</p> - -<p>It would be impossible to describe the expression -of astonishment on Edna Thurlow’s pretty face upon -hearing these disclosures, but before she could collect<span class="pagenum">[155]</span> -herself and reply a stately, very handsome, and -distinguished-looking woman entered from the hall, -saying quite graciously:</p> - -<p>“What was that I heard? Mr. Paulding acting -under your instructions, sir?”</p> - -<p>Carter turned and bowed, while Edna immediately -introduced her mother, hastily informing her of the -detective’s identity and his startling statements. The -detective then accepted an invitation to accompany -them to the library, where he not only dispelled their -perplexity, but also greatly relieved their anxiety by -telling them of his relations with Paulding and, in -a strictly confidential way, the nature of his mission.</p> - -<p>“As a matter of fact, however, I have called to -see you on other business, Mrs. Thurlow,” he said -a little later. “It is your intention, I have heard, to -attend the reception ball of the National Guards to-morrow -evening.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed, both of us,” Mrs. Thurlow replied. -“I am one of the sponsors and the director of the -ladies’ reception committee.”</p> - -<p>“Is it to be quite an elaborate affair?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Mr. Carter, quite so.”</p> - -<p>“I understand that you own a very valuable rope of -pearls, which you intend wearing.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, surely.” Mrs. Thurlow regarded him with -a look of surprise. “When would I wear it, if not -on such an occasion? I wonder at your having heard -of my pearls, however.”</p> - -<p>“I have heard something more,” Carter informed -her. “I cannot honorably conceal the fact from you, -property of such value being in jeopardy, but I hope<span class="pagenum">[156]</span> -you will consent to act upon my advice and instructions.”</p> - -<p>“In jeopardy?” Mrs. Thurlow questioned, turning -pale. “What do you mean, Mr. Carter?”</p> - -<p>“I mean, Mrs. Thurlow, that an attempt will be -made to steal them.”</p> - -<p>“Good heavens!” gasped Edna. “How shocking, -mamma!”</p> - -<p>“Steal them?” Mrs. Thurlow smiled expressively. -“Well, well, that can be easily prevented. I will not -wear them.”</p> - -<p>“I thought you would say so,” Nick replied. “On -the contrary, however, I want you to wear them and -to conduct yourself precisely as if you knew nothing -about the danger, which I felt constrained to disclose. -Let me tell you the circumstances.”</p> - -<p>He then proceeded to do so, showing her the anonymous -letter, and then interrogating her about nearly -every feature of the complicated case. His inquiries -proved vain, however, for both Mrs. Thurlow and -her daughter were entirely in the dark as to the identity -and motives of the criminals involved.</p> - -<p>“But why, Mr. Carter, having informed me of the -danger, do you want me to wear the pearls?” Mrs. -Thurlow inquired. “That will be indiscreet, at least.”</p> - -<p>“Less so than you suppose,” the detective assured -her. “I will take every possible precaution to protect -them and prevent the theft. Your wearing them, -however, will give me an opportunity to identify and -capture these miscreants.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, I see!” Mrs. Thurlow exclaimed. “But do -you think you can accomplish it?”</p> - -<p>“I am very sure of it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[157]</span></p> - -<p>“Well, to tell the truth, Mr. Carter, I have great -confidence in you,” Mrs. Thurlow said earnestly. -“Your frankness in this matter, moreover, when you -could have had what you ask by leaving me in ignorance, -constrains me to take the risk. It would be -a benefit to rid this community of the knaves with -which it long has been infested, and I’ll take the chance -and do my part. I will wear the rope of pearls, Mr. -Carter.”</p> - -<p>“Good for you, mamma!” said Edna, with some enthusiasm. -“I’ll wager that Mr. Carter will make -good.”</p> - -<p>Nick smiled and thanked her; then added more seriously:</p> - -<p>“But you must conduct yourselves, both of you, -precisely as if ignorant of the circumstances. Do not -mention them to any person or the fact that I have -called here. Much may depend upon your doing exactly -what I direct.”</p> - -<p>“You may rely upon us to do so,” Mrs. Thurlow -assured him.</p> - -<p>“Very good,” said the detective. “Tell me, now, -who is to be your escort.”</p> - -<p>“My nephew, John Dorson.”</p> - -<p>“Jack will look after both of us, Mr. Carter, owing -to Mr. Paulding’s dreadful predicament,” Edna -added.</p> - -<p>“My instructions include him also,” Nick said, -though not then dreaming the actual need of it. “Do -not confide anything to Mr. Dorson. He might be -so vigilant and attentive to you, Mrs. Thurlow, that -the crooks would not attempt the theft. That would, -of course, preclude my catching them.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[158]</span></p> - -<p>“We will be governed accordingly,” Mrs. Thurlow -again assured him.</p> - -<p>Nick lingered only to add a few minor instructions. -It was after eleven o’clock when he returned to the -Wilton House, now feeling sure that he would outwit -the unknown crooks in any game they might attempt -to play and that more definite discoveries concerning -them would speedily be made.</p> - -<p>The detective had further proof of their craft and -sagacity, however, upon entering his suite. For he -found Patsy Garvan waiting for him, who had learned -that the automobile having the State license number -he had looked up was owned by one of the leading -bankers in the State, who dwelt more than a hundred -miles from Madison.</p> - -<p>“It could not have been his car that I saw,” declared -Patsy, after reporting the facts. “That’s a -cinch, chief, and it admits of only one conclusion. -That chauffeur had false number plates, or had altered -his own in some way.”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter’s brows knitted ominously, but he did -not comment upon this further evidence of knavish -foresight. Instead, he asked a bit abruptly:</p> - -<p>“Have you seen Chick?”</p> - -<p>“Not yet,” said Patsy. “He has not returned.”</p> - -<p>“That looks bad, too.” Nick spoke with a growl. -“It ought not to have taken him three hours to search -Todd’s apartments. It could have been done in half -that time. Can it be that anything has gone wrong -there also and that these rascals——Get your hat, -Patsy,” he abruptly digressed. “Get a move on and -go with me. We’ll have a look at Todd’s apartments.”</p> - -<p>It was nearly twelve o’clock when, having aroused<span class="pagenum">[159]</span> -the night manager of the Studley, they obtained admission -to the rooms of the murdered man and -switched on the electric light. The scene that met -their gaze brought a horrified ejaculation from the -manager and a cry of dismay from Patsy Garvan.</p> - -<p>Chick was lying where he had fallen, with his arms -extended, his right sleeve drawn up a little, and with -his face upturned in the bright light, as ghastly white -as the face of a dead man.</p> - -<p>The rooms were in shocking disorder. A roll-top -desk had been broken open and looted from top to -bottom. Table drawers, those of a bureau and chiffonier, -a trunk in the wardrobe closet—the contents -of all had been pulled out and scattered broadcast over -the floor. From end to end, in fact, the apartments -had been thoroughly searched.</p> - -<p>“By thunder, this was not Chick’s work!” cried -Carter, with features turning flinty. “We have been -balked again, balked by this gang of infernal——What -do you say, Patsy? He’s not dead, surely! I -can see that plainly.”</p> - -<p>Patsy then was crouching on the floor beside the -prostrate detective.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[160]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">NICK DECLARES HIMSELF.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Nick Carter was right as to Chick’s condition. He -had seen at a glance that he was not dead. He quickly -noticed, too, the sleeve drawn up above his right wrist, -exposing part of the arm, and he immediately joined -Patsy and pointed to a tiny puncture in the white -skin.</p> - -<p>“He has been drugged,” said he, with an indignant -ring in his subdued voice. “That’s the prick of a -hypodermic needle.”</p> - -<p>“Surely,” muttered Patsy. “But how did they contrive -to get him and the——”</p> - -<p>“Don’t ask me how. It’s useless to speculate,” Carter -interrupted. “They shall pay dear for it, nevertheless, -take my word for that. Is there a physician -in the house, Mr. Vernon?” he added, turning to the -astonished manager.</p> - -<p>“Yes, there is,” was the hasty reply. “Doctor -Percy. His suite is on this floor.”</p> - -<p>“Bring him as quickly as possible,” the detective -directed. “Tell him that stimulants will be needed to -counteract a drug, but don’t create a stir or cause any -excitement. There is no occasion to arouse the house. -He soon can revive this man.”</p> - -<p>Carter had no doubt of it after a hasty examination, -and in a very few minutes Doctor Percy came -in and set to work over the unconscious detective,<span class="pagenum">[161]</span> -applying such restoratives as the case seemed to require.</p> - -<p>In the meantime, with Patsy at his elbow, Nick -made a thorough inspection of the several rooms. He -found a window in the bedroom unlocked, and on -the platform of the fire escape he discovered, with -the help of his search light, the faint tracks left by -the masked man whom Chick had encountered about -three hours before.</p> - -<p>“How it was done, Patsy, now is quite obvious,” -Carter said grimly. “Some one, probably more than -one, was here in advance of Carter or entered about -the same time. Chick was caught unawares, I think, -and overcome by the rascals.”</p> - -<p>“But how could they have anticipated his visit?” -questioned Patsy perplexedly.</p> - -<p>“They did not,” Nick replied. “They did, however, -anticipate something else.”</p> - -<p>“What was that?”</p> - -<p>“That I would search these rooms, Patsy, and the -same farsighted rascal who sent me the anonymous -letter undertook to get in his work ahead of me.”</p> - -<p>“By Jove, I guess that’s right, chief.”</p> - -<p>“He knew that I would seek for any evidence that -Todd might have left here, and he sent one or more -of his gang to prevent me from getting it. They -have succeeded, too, if Todd really left anything, for -they have cleaned up completely.”</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz! I should say so,” Patsy agreed. “They -didn’t miss nook or corner.”</p> - -<p>“It was the work of the same gang, but other members -of it than you saw at the road house,” Carter -added. “Their chief, or the director of these various<span class="pagenum">[162]</span> -steps, is certainly an infernally keen and farsighted -knave. He not only discovered my identity and presence -in Madison, but also has contrived to anticipate -and balk my every important move. But I’ll finally -get him and every mother’s son of them. We’ll not -rest until we have run down the entire gang and——Ah, -by Jove, that was Chick’s voice.”</p> - -<p>They had been briefly talking in the bedroom, from -which both hastened upon hearing the familiar voice, -and they found Chick propped up against a chair, with -his eyes open. He was responding rapidly to the -stimulants given him, and he soon was able to clearly -describe his encounter with the masked man.</p> - -<p>Not until the following morning, however, being -averse to discussing his suspicions in the presence of -Vernon and the physician, and knowing that no further -steps could be taken that night, did Carter express -his views on the subject. He then was at breakfast -with Patsy and Chick, the latter having entirely -recovered from the effects of the drug.</p> - -<p>“Your sudden collapse, Chick, and the sensations -preceding it admit of only one explanation,” said -Carter. “Your assailant was provided with a powerful -storage battery, so ingeniously contrived and -carried on his person that he could impart an overwhelming -shock to an antagonist without incurring -danger from the electric current.”</p> - -<p>“That’s how I size it up,” Chick agreed. “The -sensations were very convincing.”</p> - -<p>“It could be accomplished with an ingenious arrangement -of wires,” Carter added. “Having knocked -you out, so to speak, and knowing you soon would -throw off the effects of the brief shock, he immediately<span class="pagenum">[163]</span> -drugged you with a hypodermic injection, and -then proceeded to deliberately do what I had sent you -there to accomplish.”</p> - -<p>“He got the best of me, all right,” Chick admitted.</p> - -<p>“All this is very significant, however,” Carter said -more earnestly. “The ingenuity displayed, this use -of electricity, of drugs, of strange poisonous gas, -with a knowledge how it can be administered so as -to mysteriously cause death, as in Todd’s case, together -with the similar circumstances in the remarkable -robberies committed here, also in the cases of -the four girls found unconscious in the hospital -grounds—all evince a profound knowledge of such -things, that of the one man by whom all of these -crimes were devised and directed.”</p> - -<p>“I agree with you,” Chick nodded, laying aside his -napkin. “Only one man would probably be so well -informed and knavishly original.”</p> - -<p>“He is either a criminal genius or a madman whose -perverted mind has turned to crime for profit and -excitement. That man must be found, though we -turn heaven and earth to discover his identity.”</p> - -<p>Though he still had Doctor Devoll in mind as being -the one whom several minor circumstances had -led him to suspect, Carter did not once think of Professor -Karl Graff, whom he had seen only for a couple -of minutes when investigating the death of Gaston -Todd, and whose appearance and deportment were -in no degree impressive, to say nothing of inviting -suspicion.</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz!” Patsy exclaimed, replying. “It strikes -me, chief, that that motor car is a clew worth following. -We know that one of the two men at the road<span class="pagenum">[164]</span> -house killed Leary’s cat, and it’s dollars to fried rings -that he is the man we want to identify. In spite of -the false number plates used last night, I think I can -run down that car, if I go on a still hunt for it.”</p> - -<p>“Think you can, eh?” queried Carter tersely.</p> - -<p>“I sure do,” said Patsy confidently.</p> - -<p>“There are about a thousand cars of that type in -Madison. You’ll do good work, Patsy, if you round -up that particular one.”</p> - -<p>“Good work is my long suit, chief,” Patsy earnestly -argued. “You ought to know that.”</p> - -<p>“So I do, Patsy.”</p> - -<p>“Let me try, then. I’ll bet I can make good.”</p> - -<p>“Very well,” Carter abruptly decided. “Set to -work as soon as you like. In the meantime, Chick, I -will see Chief Gleason and get cards for to-night. I -want you to accompany me. If this master criminal, -whoever he is, can put one over on us and get away -with Mrs. Thurlow’s pearls, I’ll chuck my vocation -and start a peanut stand.”</p> - -<p>Nick arose from the table with the last, -all having finished their breakfast, and Patsy -was so eager to be off on the work he had -voluntarily assumed and the outcome of which -he had so confidently predicted that he hurried up -to their suite in advance of the others, getting such -articles as he required and leaving the house without -further instructions.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter sauntered into police headquarters -about ten o’clock that morning, and found Chief Gleason -in his private office.</p> - -<p>“Too busy to see me?” he inquired carelessly when<span class="pagenum">[165]</span> -the chief looked up and then swung quickly around -in his swivel chair.</p> - -<p>“Too busy? I should say not!” he exclaimed, with -a perceptible frown. “I was expecting to see you.”</p> - -<p>“That so?” queried Nick, while he drew up a chair.</p> - -<p>“Very much so,” Gleason said brusquely. “See -here, Carter, what are you putting over on me?”</p> - -<p>“Putting over on you?” Nick’s eyes narrowed -slightly.</p> - -<p>“Exactly.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t quite get you, Gleason.”</p> - -<p>“You ought to get me. Why haven’t I seen you -since yesterday morning? Why haven’t you reported? -In other words, Carter, what are you doing about this -Todd murder and these other cases?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s it, is it?” said Nick, who had been wondering -what was coming. “I had begun to fear there -was something wrong. Putting over on you, eh? -Did you really expect me, Gleason, to run in here every -hour or two and report the progress of my work? -That’s not my way of doing business.”</p> - -<p>“I know, Carter; I know,” Gleason more quietly -protested, warned by a subtle ring in the detective’s -voice. “But we really have nothing on Paulding, nothing -at all definite, nothing that warrants holding him -in custody. It was upon your advice that we arrested -him.”</p> - -<p>“I guess you have made no mistake.”</p> - -<p>“But——”</p> - -<p>“He has not kicked against it, has he?”</p> - -<p>“No, no, not exactly, yet——”</p> - -<p>“Stop a moment,” Nick interrupted. “How long<span class="pagenum">[166]</span> -were you and your score of subordinates at work on -these mysterious crimes before you sent for me?”</p> - -<p>“Why, several months, as you know.”</p> - -<p>“And accomplished nothing.”</p> - -<p>“Why, nothing material.”</p> - -<p>“Several months and nothing accomplished,” said -Nick pointedly. “I have been in Madison only two -days, Gleason, yet you expect me to begin turning in -reports and possibly to have solved the problem that -has baffled you for months. Don’t be foolish, Gleason. -Rome was not built in a day.”</p> - -<p>“But you might at least keep me informed now and -then as to——”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!” Nick cut in again. “I’ll report, Gleason, -when I have anything worth reporting, and not -until then. If that doesn’t satisfy the Madison chief -of police, I’ll chuck the whole business and hike back -to New York.”</p> - -<p>“No, no, don’t say that,” Chief Gleason quickly entreated. -“I may have been a bit impatient, Carter, -but only because of my anxiety concerning Paulding, -who really is a very decent fellow. I don’t want to -put him in wrong, you know.”</p> - -<p>“I am the one who has done the putting, Gleason, -and I will take all of the responsibility,” Nick replied. -“But do not be impatient or needlessly anxious. -There will be something doing sooner or later, -and you shall know all about it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well, that ought to satisfy me, I suppose, -coming from you,” Gleason said more agreeably. “I -should have known better than to have questioned -your judgment. Have you discovered anything -worthy of mention?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[167]</span></p> - -<p>“Not yet, but I’m on the way,” the detective said -evasively. “I can tell you nothing definite at present. -Incidentally, however, I wish to attend the reception -and ball of the National Guards this evening. I suppose -you have been called upon to take the customary -precautions.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed,” Gleason quickly nodded. “Ten of -my men are to be there in plain clothes. It will be -a swell affair, with much costly jewelry worn, no -doubt, and we are taking unusual precautions.”</p> - -<p>“Quite right,” Carter said approvingly. “I want -you to get me two tickets and the necessary cards.”</p> - -<p>“I can give them to you now.” Gleason opened a -drawer in his desk. “I was supplied with a dozen, -but need only ten. Here are the other two.”</p> - -<p>“Good enough.” Nick slipped them into his pocket. -“Say nothing about my going, by the way, for I don’t -want that generally known. After this ball, Gleason, -I may have something to report,” he said significantly, -while he arose to go.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[168]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">PATSY ON THE TRAIL.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>“Good work is right. It sure will be some stunt -to find that particular car, as the chief said, but there’s -more than one way to kill a cat. I’ll find it, by gracious, -or lose a leg.”</p> - -<p>These were Patsy Garvan’s mental declarations -when he left the Wilton House at nine o’clock that -morning, not only determined to find the motor car -he had seen the previous night, but also to identify its -chauffeur and his two passengers.</p> - -<p>“I’ll go the whole hog,” he added to himself. “If -I discover the chauffeur, I’ll not quit till I have learned -who was with him. I’ll make good the limit, if I -make good at all.”</p> - -<p>His first visit proved futile, and he then consulted -a directory and noted the location of every public -garage. He then proceeded from one to another as -quickly as possible, searching each in the same way, -but with the same negative result.</p> - -<p>In only one was he questioned by the proprietor, -but Patsy was ready for him, and politely explained.</p> - -<p>“I am thinking of buying a car next month, sir, and -am merely having a look at these. I hope you have -no objection.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not in that case,” was the reply. “Go -as far as you like.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll go far and go some, I reckon, before I hook -onto the right one,” thought Patsy, who then had<span class="pagenum">[169]</span> -been thus at work for several hours, stopping only -for lunch in a convenient restaurant. “The car might -be out, of course, even if I were to hit the right -garage, providing it is kept in a public one. I’ve got -to take the chance. I’ll stick, too, by ginger, till I -find it.”</p> - -<p>It was after three o’clock when he emerged from -the last garage on his list, and his face wore a look -of irrepressible disappointment, though his ardor and -determination had not waned.</p> - -<p>“Where next?” he asked himself. “The day is -two-thirds gone and I’m no better off than when I -started. It would be impossible to visit every private -garage. Nor could I identify that chauffeur in a passing -car if he was in disguise last night, or tell whether -the number plates have been removed or temporarily -changed by some means. If changed, by Jove, there’s -one way that might be done. There may be something -in this.”</p> - -<p>He was hit with a new idea, one that immediately -struck him as promising. He had in mind, of course, -that all of the license plates of that State were blue -and numbered with white figures. Returning to the -business section, from which his long search had taken -him, he again consulted a directory and made a list -of the paint stores, one of which he presently entered -and questioned the proprietor.</p> - -<p>His inquiries proved vain, however, and he hastened -to another. Not until close upon five o’clock -was he successful, when, accosting the proprietor of -a small shop in a side street, he began the same line -of inquiries.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[170]</span></p> - -<p>“Do you keep vaseline or a paste of any kind that -I could color with a pigment?”</p> - -<p>“I have vaseline in small jars. What color do you -want to make it?”</p> - -<p>“Prussian blue,” said Patsy, that being the body -color of the number plates.</p> - -<p>“You can mix the Prussian blue powder with the -vaseline all right?”</p> - -<p>“Making a paste that would stick for a time and -then wipe off easily?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, surely.”</p> - -<p>“Do you have many calls for Prussian blue?”</p> - -<p>“Not many. You are the second one within a week, -though,” said the proprietor. “Toby Monk bought -a box three or four days ago. That’s the second, -by the way, that he has bought within a month. He -uses it mebbe the same as you do.”</p> - -<p>“What’s his business? I’m an artist,” said Patsy, -lest these inquiries might reach the ears of the said -Toby Monk.</p> - -<p>“He’s a chauffeur,” replied the storekeeper. “He -owns a car and runs it as a jitney part of the time, -when he’s not driving for a man who frequently employs -him.”</p> - -<p>“What man is that?” inquired Patsy, suppressing -any betrayal of his elation.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know his name.”</p> - -<p>“Or where he lives?”</p> - -<p>“No.”</p> - -<p>“He’s a merchant, perhaps, or a doctor, or——”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know anything about him. Why are you -so anxious to know who and——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’m not anxious,” Patsy cut in quickly. “I<span class="pagenum">[171]</span> -was only wondering how the fellow you spoke of -used the color. Give me one can of it, smallest size, -and a small jar of vaseline.”</p> - -<p>Patsy’s explanation was glibly made, and the storekeeper -appeared to attach no further significance to -his customer’s curiosity. He wrapped up the two articles, -and Patsy paid him and departed, afterward -tossing the package mentioned among some weeds in -a vacant lot.</p> - -<p>“Only a lunkhead would have questioned him further,” -he said to himself, now feeling almost sure -that he had hit the right trail. “Toby Monk, eh? I’ll -soon find out where he lives and what is generally -known about him. Bought Prussian blue twice, has -he? It’s a hundred to one that he has been using it -to temporarily blot out a figure with blue paste matching -the background of his number plate, or to so cover -part of one or more figures as to form others, apparently -giving the plate an entirely different number -when engaged in a job like that of last night. -Blue paste could be quickly wiped off after the job was -done. I’ll find out mighty soon whether I am right -and have nailed one of the suspects.”</p> - -<p>He hastened to a near drug store, and again resorted -to the city directory. He found that Toby -Monk lodged in Green Street, and thither he then -hastened.</p> - -<p>He learned, after a little roundabout questioning in -an opposite cigar store, that Toby Monk kept his car -in an unused stable about a block away, and that he -could usually be found between six and seven o’clock -in Foley’s saloon and restaurant in Prince Street, -where he often went for his beer and supper.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[172]</span></p> - -<p>It then was nearly six, with dusk beginning to -gather, and Patsy lost no time in seeking the stable -mentioned. It stood in the back yard of an inferior -wooden dwelling. The stable door was open, and the -car stood within, apparently the one he had pursued -the previous night, though he could not now see the -number plates.</p> - -<p>“I must make dead sure of it,” he said to himself, -after sauntering by the house and turning merely a -furtive gaze toward the stable. “Toby Monk may -be in this house, since his car is here, and I’d better -not venture through the yard. I’ll go round to the -next street and steal between those two houses back -of the stable. There may be a back window, and I -could easily climb the fence.”</p> - -<p>It took him about three minutes to reach the rear -of the stable, which he accomplished without being -seen, and he found the window he was seeking. He -found it unlocked, moreover, and within half a minute -he was crouching back of the touring car, inspecting -the number plate.</p> - -<p>It was as clean as a whistle, though the rest of the -car was quite dusty. Obviously it had been recently -wiped. Plainly, too, the number, 12674, could be apparently -changed to 2671, the very number he had -seen the previous night, by eliminating the 1 and the -loop of the 4 by covering them with the blue paste.</p> - -<p>“By Jove, this does settle it!” Patsy muttered, after -a brief inspection. “Here’s a smooch of dirty blue -grease, too, on the tire. Possibly I can find the——”</p> - -<p>Turning quickly, he discovered what he had in mind. -A wad of cotton waste soiled with greasy blue paste -had been tossed amid some rubbish in one corner.<span class="pagenum">[173]</span> -On a beam near by was an open can of Prussian blue -powder, and near it a tin box containing some of the -paste and a soiled brush.</p> - -<p>Patsy did not want more convincing evidence. He -stole out by the way he had entered, easily departing -unseen in the deepening dusk, and feeling reasonably -sure that Toby Monk then would be found -in the saloon mentioned.</p> - -<p>“I’ll have a look, at all events,” he said to himself. -“Toby was the chauffeur, all right, and through him -I may identify the others. Gee whiz! It’s lucky I -thought of that method to alter the number plate. It -put me on the right track. I’ll drop the chief a line -in the next letter box, lest I unexpectedly throw a -shoe, and then I’ll keep up my good work. I’ll be -hanged if I’ll quit a trail that’s just warming up.”</p> - -<p>It was half past six, and dusk had turned to darkness, -when Patsy approached Foley’s saloon in Prince -Street, within a block of police headquarters. It -was a restaurant and barroom of the better class, with -a corresponding patronage, and he paused briefly on -the opposite side to gaze through the broad plate-glass -windows.</p> - -<p>He could see nearly a score of men in the saloon, -some talking and drinking at the bar, others seated -in a row of side booths, and nearly as many in the -rear restaurant. He was unable to discover one so -like the chauffeur in height and figure as to be sure -of his identity, however, and he then decided to enter -and use his wits. Approaching the bar, he bought -a glass of beer and lingered to drink it moderately. -Taking a moment when one of the bartenders was -idle and near him, he inquired carelessly:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[174]</span></p> - -<p>“How far must I go to hit a jitney?”</p> - -<p>“Main Street, two blocks east,” said the bartender -tersely.</p> - -<p>“Don’t any of them go through this street?”</p> - -<p>“Sometimes, but not regular. Mebbe, though, -that——” The bartender stopped and looked searchingly -toward the restaurant, until his gaze fell upon -a man at one of the side tables. “Ah, there he is! -I thought he was there.”</p> - -<p>“Thought who was here?”</p> - -<p>“Toby Monk. He runs a jitney, but he is eating -his supper. His car may be outside.”</p> - -<p>“Where does he leave it?”</p> - -<p>“Just above here.”</p> - -<p>“There is no car out there,” said Patsy. “I just -came in and would have seen it.”</p> - -<p>“He’s put it up until later, then, as he often does -about this time.”</p> - -<p>“It don’t matter,” said Patsy. “The walking’s -good.”</p> - -<p>He turned away indifferently, and was pleased to -see that other customers then claimed the attention -of the bartender. Having carefully noted in which direction -he had gazed a moment before, Patsy easily -determined on which man his eyes had lingered, and -he now furtively sized him up—a well-built man in -the thirties, with a dark, smooth-shaven face, a square -jaw, and thin lips, having a downward curve that -gave him a sinister expression.</p> - -<p>But Patsy’s train of thought was cut short when -Toby Monk, rising abruptly from a seat at the table, -took his cap from a wall rack and strode out through -the saloon.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[175]</span></p> - -<p>At the same moment a burly, red-featured man -entered from the street, and the two met just within -the swinging doors and scarce six feet from that end -of the bar at which Patsy was standing. He saw -Toby Monk start slightly, as if surprised, and then -heard him exclaim, with inquiring scrutiny:</p> - -<p>“Hello! What’s up, Shannon?”</p> - -<p>“Shannon!” Patsy echoed the name mentally, with -a thrill of increasing elation. “That’s the name of -the attendant the chief saw in Doctor Devoll’s private -room. He answers his description, too. Gee -whiz, the net is tightening for fair! It now is a cinch -that Doctor Devoll is one of the gang, and very possible -the big finger.”</p> - -<p>Patsy missed nothing that was said while these -thoughts flashed through his mind. Shannon had -stopped short the moment he saw the chauffeur, to -whom he quickly replied, and with his gruff voice -only slightly subdued:</p> - -<p>“You’re wanted, Toby.”</p> - -<p>“Wanted by——”</p> - -<p>“You know,” Shannon cut in quickly. “I have -orders for you.”</p> - -<p>“What’s doing? Why did you come here after -me?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you on the way. This is no time or place. -Get a move on and go with me.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll go with you also if it’s all the same to you -two rascals—or whether it is or not,” thought Patsy -as he edged toward the door and followed the two -men to the street.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[176]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">BIRDS OF PREY.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>The trail picked up by Patsy Garvan was becoming -so hot, indeed, as he had expressed it, that he now -had absolutely no idea of quitting it. He followed -the two suspects through Prince Street, noting that -they were engaged in a subdued and very earnest discussion, -with Shannon doing most of the talking, but -Patsy did not venture to attempt overhearing them.</p> - -<p>“I could pick up only a word or two at the most, and -must take a chance of being seen and suspected,” he -rightly reasoned. “That would put them on their -guard and knock a further espionage on the head. I’d -better keep them in the dark and try to see what’s -coming off. If Shannon brought orders from some -one to this sinister-looking scamp, it’s long odds that -Doctor Devoll was the one. There sure is something -in the wind.”</p> - -<p>It soon was evident to him that the two men were -heading for the stable in which Toby Monk kept his -car, and he began to fear that he was booked for -the same difficulties he had had the previous night. -He felt quite sure of it, in fact, when both men entered -the stable and Toby Monk partly closed the -front door, precluding a view from the street.</p> - -<p>Presently, however, a feeble light from a smoky lantern -could be seen, and Patsy muttered perplexedly:</p> - -<p>“What do they want of that? They can’t be going -out with the car, after all, or a lantern would not<span class="pagenum">[177]</span> -be needed. They may have come here only to escape -observation while planning a job. I can very soon -find out by making use of the back window again.”</p> - -<p>He was on his way with the last thought. A couple -of minutes brought him to the back fence, over -which he climbed noiselessly, and then crept near -enough to see and hear through the dusty back window.</p> - -<p>Toby Monk was on his knees with a box of blue -paste and a brush, engaged in altering the figures on -the rear number plate of the touring car.</p> - -<p>Shannon was seated on a box near by, with his -brawny arms resting on his knees, while he grimly -watched the chauffeur’s artistic alterations.</p> - -<p>“You’d better let the top down, too, Toby,” he advised, -after a moment. “That will help.”</p> - -<p>“Mebbe so, Jim, since I’m never seen with it down,” -Monk replied. “I’ll drop it before leaving.”</p> - -<p>“Besides, it might be a bit in the way,” Shannon -pointedly added. “It’s easier to get into an open -car. This trick has got to be turned on the jump, mind -you.”</p> - -<p>“I know that, Jim, all right, and you can bet I’ll -do my part.”</p> - -<p>“Have I made it perfectly plain to you?”</p> - -<p>“As plain as twice two.”</p> - -<p>“The signal——”</p> - -<p>“There’s no need to repeat it, Jim,” Toby protested, -interrupting, much to Patsy’s disappointment. “I’ve -got the whole business down pat, so far as my part -in the job goes. You may tell his nibs he may bank -on that.”</p> - -<p>“The hour——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[178]</span></p> - -<p>“I know,” Monk again cut in impatiently. “You -need never repeat an order that he sends me. There’s -too much coming, Jim, for me to go lame.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll be off, then, Toby, and tell him I found you,” -said Shannon, rising abruptly. “He’ll be waiting for -me by this time.”</p> - -<p>“Go ahead, then, and I’ll see you later.”</p> - -<p>“Sure thing, Toby, bar a slip-up of some kind,” -Shannon paused to add. “You know what we are -up against.”</p> - -<p>“Rats! Trust his nibs to get the best of that bunch. -No dicks can fool him. He’ll put something over on -them that they never heard of.”</p> - -<p>Shannon laughed grimly, picking his way around -the touring car, and left the dingy, dimly lighted stable.</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan hesitated only for a moment. He remembered -the previous night. He knew that he might -find it utterly impossible to follow Toby Monk, who -evidently was soon going to use his car, and Patsy -immediately stole around the stable, taking advantage -of the darkness to dart back of the rear dwelling, -and in another moment he was stealthily following -Shannon up the street.</p> - -<p>“Going to tell his nibs, is he?” thought Patsy, with -ever-increasing elation. “If I don’t learn who is back -of this whole business, then there’ll be something -wrong with the cards. Get the best of the chief, will -he? I guess not!”</p> - -<p>He found it easy to shadow his unsuspecting -quarry. He trailed him to an outskirt of the business -section, where Shannon paused briefly in a gloomy -doorway and put on a disguise. Five minutes later,<span class="pagenum">[179]</span> -after looking sharply in each direction, he entered a -court flanking one end of a large stone building.</p> - -<p>“By gracious!” thought Patsy, gazing up at it. -“This is the Waldmere Chambers, the building in -which Todd was killed. Has the gang a headquarters -here, or is it where only the chief himself hangs -out? In either case, by Jove! I’m getting in right at -last.”</p> - -<p>Stealing nearer, he peered cautiously into the court. -Shannon had disappeared in the deeper darkness. Following -noiselessly, Patsy brought up at a solid wooden -gate about six feet high, and he then heard a door -closed and the snap of a lock. It told him plainly -enough that Doctor David Devoll’s burly attendant -had entered the building.</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz! I must not lose track of him,” Patsy -muttered under his breath. “I’ll take chances to guard -against that. Locked, by thunder!”</p> - -<p>Patsy had vainly tried to open the gate. He saw -that it closed an alley about five feet wide between -the rear of the Waldmere Chambers and the blank back -wall of another lofty building. He drew himself up -and looked over it. He could see a door some ten -feet away, and directly above it a single-lighted window, -the roller shade of which was drawn nearly to -the sill.</p> - -<p>“That’s a rear office on the second floor,” Patsy -rightly reasoned. “That door must open into a basement, -however, for the land slopes toward the front -of the building. By Jove! I must find out what’s doing.”</p> - -<p>Without a sound that could have been heard in -the office mentioned, he climbed over the gate and<span class="pagenum">[180]</span> -dropped upon the pavement in the alley, then picked -his way through the gloom toward the door. He -then found that it was an ordinary storm door, opening -outward and protecting an interior one, which -was securely locked.</p> - -<p>He listened vainly for any sound from within, also -at two ground-glass windows near by, evidently those -of a basement, then as dark as a pocket. Both were -securely fastened.</p> - -<p>“Gee! I’m no better off,” he said to himself. “If -I could get up to that lighted window, I might learn -whether Shannon is there, or—by gum! I have it. I -can both see and hear, all right, by standing on the -top of this outer door. It’s some stunt to get up there, -though, without being heard.”</p> - -<p>He demurred only briefly, seeing no other way to -accomplish his object. He opened the door, then hung -by his hands from the top for a moment, finding that -the hinges would support him. He then drew himself -up, working one leg over the outer corner, and -finally worming himself to a seat on the unsteady -perch. Twice he had swung against the building, but -met the wall noiselessly with his shoulder.</p> - -<p>Reaching up, he then could grasp the stone sill of -the lighted window. He drew himself up, hanging -clear of the door, then nearly closed it with his feet, -bringing it to a position directly under the window, -enabling him to stand in a crouching posture on it, -still grasping the stone sill.</p> - -<p>A beam of light from under the roller shade then -fell on Patsy’s grimly determined face. Voices from -within reached his ears. He peered into the room and<span class="pagenum">[181]</span> -saw, seated in opposite chairs, Jim Shannon and Professor -Karl Graff.</p> - -<p>“The man I trailed to Leary’s road house! The -man who killed the cat!” The thoughts flashed -swiftly through Patsy’s mind. “By gracious, it now -is a cinch! He’s the big finger of the gang. But who -the deuce is he?”</p> - -<p>Though puzzled as to his identity, Patsy read plainly -in Professor Graff’s gray-bearded face that he was -discussing something of serious importance. His narrow -eyes had a vicious gleam and glitter. He was -drawn forward in his chair, with his hands clenched -on his knees and his gaze riveted on Shannon’s dark -face, from which he had removed his disguise.</p> - -<p>“You made it clear to him, Jim, perfectly clear?” -Graff was asking. “There must be no mistake, no -delay.”</p> - -<p>“There’ll be none,” Shannon gruffly informed him. -“You can bank on that.”</p> - -<p>“The number plates——”</p> - -<p>“I left him changing them.”</p> - -<p>“The position he is to take with the car——”</p> - -<p>“He knows the very spot.”</p> - -<p>“The signal——”</p> - -<p>“Your flash light—he knows,” Shannon cut in -again. “He’ll be watching for it.”</p> - -<p>“And what he then must do?”</p> - -<p>“The whole business. He has it down pat from -A to Z.”</p> - -<p>Graff settled back in his chair. He appeared satisfied -with these forcible assurances. He fell to rubbing -his hands, his eyes gleaming with malicious triumph,<span class="pagenum">[182]</span> -a gleam and glitter so intense that Patsy Garvan -felt that he was gazing at a madman.</p> - -<p>“If he isn’t dippy, a pronounced victim of criminal -mania, I’m no judge of human faces,” he said to himself. -“Human be hanged! He has the look of a -devil, and all the makings of one, if I’m not mistaken.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll balk him, thwart him, turn this trick on him, -Shannon, in spite of all he can do,” Graff snapped -viciously after a moment. “Then, if he dares to remain -in Madison—well, God help him! His fate -will be on his own head. I have told him. I have -warned him.”</p> - -<p>“He means the chief,” thought Patsy. “This was -the rascal who sent him the letter, and he refers to -the theft of Mrs. Thurlow’s pearls. They’ve been -planning it, and that’s the job Toby Monk is booked -for to-night. If I can but learn the details of their -scheme, it will be soft walking for the chief to foil -their game and collar the entire gang. I’m on the -way, all right.”</p> - -<p>Patsy felt reasonably sure of it, indeed, and he was -missing nothing that passed between the two conspirators. -Shannon appeared oblivious to Graff’s display -of feeling, though he smiled a bit grimly and -said:</p> - -<p>“You can turn the dick down, all right, if need be, -and none would get wise. All I hope is that he won’t -be able to queer this job. There would be something -coming to us from it, a deal more than usual.”</p> - -<p>“It’s as sure as if you already had it in your pocket, -Shannon, if my instructions are carefully followed.”</p> - -<p>“They will be,” Shannon nodded. “What does Tim -Hurst think about it? Where does he fit in?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[183]</span></p> - -<p>“He’s to work the trick with me.”</p> - -<p>“Any one else?”</p> - -<p>“Only Dorson.”</p> - -<p>“Is it safe to rely upon him?”</p> - -<p>“There will be no safety for him if he disappoints -me,” Graff declared, with vicious asperity. “He knows -what it will cost and that he’ll pay the price. You -know what befell the one treacherous cur who dared -to defy me and threatened to expose——”</p> - -<p>“Enough of that,” Shannon cut in, with a growl. -“I don’t like to think of it, much less talk about it. -What has become of Hurst, anyway?”</p> - -<p>“I have not seen him since last night, after he -searched the rooms of that servile cur.” Graff spoke -with an ugly snarl. “He found papers that would -have exposed us, but they now are ashes only. Luckily, -too, he was in time to down one of the Nick Carter -gang, who otherwise would have found the same -and had us by the ears.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll get you all right, sooner or later,” thought -Patsy. “Tim Hurst, eh? The masked man whom -Chick encountered. Give us a little more time and -we’ll uncover all of these hidden faces.”</p> - -<p>“Downed him, did he?” queried Shannon. “He -must be a lightweight dick that Tim could down, for -all he’s quick and clever.”</p> - -<p>Professor Graff laughed for a moment as if much -tickled, but his mirth had qualities that sent a chill -down Patsy’s spine.</p> - -<p>“I had made it easy for him,” Graff replied, still -chuckling with evil pride. “He wore an unsuspected -weapon, an electrical device of mine that would overcome<span class="pagenum">[184]</span> -a horse. Let Tim alone to make good when -in a tight place.”</p> - -<p>“But it’s near seven,” Shannon growled, glancing -at the clock. “If he’s to work with you to-night——”</p> - -<p>“He’ll come,” Graff cut in quickly. “He’ll show up -on time. He’s due here now.”</p> - -<p>“Due here! Will he sneak in this way, or enter -from the front street? If he comes while I’m up -here——”</p> - -<p>Patsy caught his breath, scenting speedy trouble.</p> - -<p>A key had been thrust into the lock, and almost -instantly the gate was opened and hurriedly closed. -A slender, black-clad figure had entered the alley, a -thin-featured, keen-eyed man of about thirty, who -quickly jerked the key from the lock.</p> - -<p>Patsy had as quickly decided what he would do. -He knew he could not leap down from his unsteady -perch undetected and retreat farther into the alley. -He took, therefore, his only chance to escape observation, -knowing that he could not hold up the intruder -without alarming his confederates. Firmly -grasping the stone sill of the window, he drew up -his legs and raised his feet from the top of the door, -hoping the man would pass under him and enter without -seeing him.</p> - -<p>The ruse came near proving successful. Tim Hurst -strode quickly to the storm door and flung it open, then -fished out a key to the inner one. He had heard -nothing alarming nor seen the crimped figure hanging -close to the dark wall directly above him.</p> - -<p>Just then, however, a bit of cement broke from the -stone under Patsy’s rigid grasp, and it fell straight -down upon Hurst’s head. He drew back as if electrified,<span class="pagenum">[185]</span> -looking up, and as quick as a flash he guessed -the truth. On the instant, too, while he uttered a -short, sharp whistle, he leaped up and seized Patsy’s -legs, snarling fiercely:</p> - -<p>“Come down here! Let go, blast you, or——”</p> - -<p>Hurst was not given time to say more.</p> - -<p>Patsy heard Graff and Shannon spring up and rush -down a back stairway in response to the whistle, and -he realized that only quick work could save him. He -let go of the sill and dropped straight down upon -Hurst’s head and shoulders, worming quickly around -as he pitched over him, and trying to grapple him -around his arms and waist.</p> - -<p>The lithe and wiry rascal was alert, however, and -as quick of motion as a cat. He also twisted around -when Patsy fell, spreading his feet to steady himself, -and then, with a lightninglike lurch toward the building, -he brought Patsy’s head against the stone wall, a -blow that nearly cracked his skull and dazed him so -that he hardly knew what immediately followed.</p> - -<p>In a vague way, however, he realized that he was -being roughly handled, that Graff and Shannon had -rushed out into the alley, and that the three men were -hurriedly taking him into the building.</p> - -<p>He heard both doors closed and locked, then was -conscious of being placed roughly on a cold cement -floor, with two of the ruffians nearly crushing him in -the inky darkness. This was dispelled in a moment -by a glare of electric light, and the cobwebs then -had cleared from his brain sufficiently for him to size -up the surroundings.</p> - -<p>He saw at a glance that he was in a chemical laboratory, -a large, square room with shelved walls, laden<span class="pagenum">[186]</span> -with bottles, jars, carboys, and the like. A zinc-covered -table was littered with the customary articles -required by a chemist. There was a closet in one corner. -Near by was an open door, an adjoining entry, -and a narrow stairway leading up to the room in which -the two men had been seated.</p> - -<p>Patsy still was gazing around when Graft approached -him, commanding his two confederates to -bind him, which they quickly proceeded to do with -cords brought from the closet, while Tim Hurst hurriedly -stated where he discovered their captive.</p> - -<p>“Who are you? Who sent you here to play the -spy?” he fiercely questioned.</p> - -<p>Though he keenly realized that he was in wrong, -and that much of his good work might prove futile, -Patsy lost neither his head nor his nerve.</p> - -<p>“No one sent me,” he answered curtly. “I came -on my own hook.”</p> - -<p>“You lie!” Graff snapped harshly. “You are in -Nick Carter’s employ.”</p> - -<p>“By Heaven, I guess that’s right,” Shannon agreed, -with a snarl. “He’s one of the dicks.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll dick him! We’ll dick him all right when -the time comes,” Graff fiercely declared. “But not -now, not yet. The Thurlow pearls are of first importance, -and I have only time to prepare for that -job. We’ll settle with him later. Gag him, Shannon, -and lock him in the closet. You must wait here and -watch till we return. Make sure the whelp can’t -escape. I’ll fix him later. I’ll fix him.”</p> - -<p>“Gee whiz!” thought Patsy. “If he makes good -as he looks, I can see my finish.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[187]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">STOLEN PEARLS.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Nick Carter wore a worried look at eight o’clock -that evening. Both he and Chick then were dressing -for the elaborate reception and ball tendered to -the local National Guards, generally admitted to be -the chief social event slated for that season in Madison, -and during which the unknown crook whom the -detectives were so anxious to identify had threatened -to commit the crime the latter were grimly determined -to prevent.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter’s anxiety, however, was not because -his life also had been threatened and might possibly -be taken, in case he became an insurmountable obstacle -to the designs of the mysterious and daring desperado. -He was thinking of Patsy Garvan, his prolonged absence, -the occasion for which he could not fathom, -knowing that Patsy ordinarily would have reported -by telephone, at least, in view of the work engaging -him, unless something very unexpected and equally -serious prevented him.</p> - -<p>The detective did not blind himself, moreover, to -the fact that his own designs had been repeatedly anticipated -and balked by the unknown knave or by -members of his gang, in spite of his own expeditious -work and the precautions he had taken. He realized -most keenly that he was up against a remarkably -crafty and resourceful scoundrel. He began to fear -that Patsy had fallen into his hands and, in spite of<span class="pagenum">[188]</span> -his confidence in his own skill and prowess, that he -also might be booked for failure and utterly unable -to prevent the threatened theft of Mrs. Mortimer -Thurlow’s pearls.</p> - -<p>“It would be perfectly easy to foil the rascals, if that -was all we wished to accomplish,” said the detective, -while he and Chick were discussing their plans. “But -that is not enough.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not,” declared Chick. “We must take -advantage of the circumstances to discover their identity -and in some way contrive to arrest them.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly. We must allow them enough leeway, -therefore, to be sure they will attempt the crime,” -Carter pointed out. “They know what they are up -against and that we are out to get them. If we remain -too near to Mrs. Thurlow, as if ready to instantly -grab any one that lays a finger on her, there -will be nothing to it. The miscreants will throw -up the job.”</p> - -<p>“Surely,” Chick agreed. “No sane man would -attempt it under such conditions.”</p> - -<p>“The fact that we are carefully disguised, moreover, -would not deceive them. They would suspect -any men who constantly hung around within reach -of Mrs. Thurlow, and would very soon identify us. -We must give them enough leeway, therefore, as I -have said, to be sure they will make the attempt.”</p> - -<p>“I agree with you,” Chick nodded.</p> - -<p>“It goes without saying, nevertheless, that we must -be in a position to constantly watch the woman,” Carter -added. “Having no idea just when the theft may -be attempted, we must not lose sight of her for a moment.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[189]</span></p> - -<p>“What plan had we better adopt?”</p> - -<p>“We can lay no elaborate plan. It will be of advantage, -however, if we keep an eye on one another, -as well as on the woman, and contrive to keep her constantly -between us. That will enable us to head off -a thief in two directions, at least.”</p> - -<p>“I see the point.”</p> - -<p>“We must be alert, also, to detect any person whose -looks or actions warrant suspicion,” Carter continued. -“It is barely possible that one of us can discover the -crook before the theft is attempted.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll put you wise, chief, in that case, and you do -the same.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course.”</p> - -<p>“Her nephew is to be her escort, you say.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. His name is Dorson. He will accompany -both Mrs. Thurlow and her daughter, and we can -identify them when they arrive.”</p> - -<p>“And our work must begin at that moment.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly. Naturally, of course, Dorson will pay -considerable attention to Mrs. Thurlow, and I don’t -think his presence will deter the crooks, for I have -directed her to say nothing to him about expecting a -crime. There is no occasion for any one to suspect -him, of course, even though he is with her much of -the time.”</p> - -<p>The detective added the last while they were about -to leave. It was a perfectly natural supposition, of -course, that the man of whom he was speaking was -entirely trustworthy. He did not have a thought to -the contrary, and, therefore, he could not foresee the -fatal result of this misplaced confidence in Mr. John -Dorson.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[190]</span></p> - -<p>It was a brilliant scene upon which the two detectives -arrived soon after eight o’clock, which they knew -would be sufficiently early. The streets adjoining -the park in which the handsome new armory building -was situated, in the vast hall and drill room, on the -second floor of which the ball was to be held, were -crowded with costly, brightly lighted automobiles of -nearly every type, leaving as rapidly as possible a -throng of fashionably clad men and elaborately -gowned women, many lavishly adorned with radiant -gems and jewels.</p> - -<p>Fortune favored the detectives at first. They had -been waiting only a few minutes in the broad reception -hall on the ground floor, when Carter saw Mrs. -Thurlow and Edna arrive in company with a tall, -somewhat cadaverous man, who he knew must be Mr. -John Dorson.</p> - -<p>“There they are, Chick,” he said quietly. “The -woman has not weakened. She is doing her part, -indeed, to help us nail our man. She is wearing the -rope of pearls.”</p> - -<p>“Some pearls, too,” Chick muttered admiringly. -“By Jove! they warrant taking a desperate chance. -That tall fellow is Dorson, I suppose.”</p> - -<p>“Surely.”</p> - -<p>“He’s not very attractive. He has the look of a -rounder.”</p> - -<p>“Not as bad as that, I guess,” said Carter. “I think -Mrs. Thurlow would have told me. Step down that -way and keep an eye on her. We now must watch -her constantly.”</p> - -<p>Both had been standing in an alcove formed by the rise -of the broad, main stairway. The latter led up<span class="pagenum">[191]</span> -to a wide corridor flanking three sides of the ballroom, -which was accessible from each through several broad, -pillared doorways. In the end wall of the room was -a row of open French windows, leading out upon the -balcony roof of a wide veranda overlooking an avenue -through the park mentioned, in which numerous automobiles -already had gathered to await the end of the -festivities.</p> - -<p>One among them had arrived quite early and obtained -a position of special advantage, close to the -broad avenue and within easy view of the veranda and -balcony. It attracted no more attention than any of -the others, neither did the chauffeur, who sat motionless -at his wheel. None would have recognized his -bearded face, nor could the car have been traced from -the license number it then appeared to bear.</p> - -<p>It was to these conditions and surroundings that -Professor Karl Graff had referred while talking with -Dorson in the road house, and of which he and his -knavish confederates were prepared to take every -advantage.</p> - -<p>Chick slipped away from his chief, as the latter had -directed, and took a position from which he could -watch the door of a room to which Mrs. Thurlow -and Edna had gone to leave their outside garments, -while Dorson hastened to another to check his crush -hat and Inverness. Though his face was unusually -pale and grave, it wore no expression inviting suspicion.</p> - -<p>He returned in a few moments and rejoined Edna -Thurlow, departing with her through the throng in -the lower corridor and mingling with the stream of -wealth and fashion then seeking the ballroom.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[192]</span></p> - -<p>Mrs. Thurlow came out a little later and joined a -group of women acting as a reception committee, and -for nearly an hour she remained in the lower hall, -apparently undisturbed by the threats of which she -had been informed, and conducting herself precisely as -if ignorant of them, as Carter had directed.</p> - -<p>Both detectives, though they then were separated, -had an eye on her all the while and on the rope of lustrous -pearls adorning her shapely neck and perfect -shoulders. Neither could detect any person near her -inviting suspicion, however, and it really seemed improbable -that so daring a theft could be successfully -committed, in view of the fact that it had been predicted -and prevention audaciously invited.</p> - -<p>It was ten o’clock when Mrs. Thurlow went up to -the lavishly decorated ballroom. There, and in the -adjoining corridors, a throng of several hundred -guests were assembled. A dance then was in progress, -however, and the corridors were less crowded than -during the intervals between the dances.</p> - -<p>Carter and Chick met on the stairs while following -the woman quite closely, and Carter said a bit hurriedly, -noting the direction she was taking:</p> - -<p>“She’s going to that end of the hall overlooking the -balcony. I’ll follow her. You hurry around through -the corridor, so as to watch her from the opposite -side of the hall. We then will have her guarded from -both directions.”</p> - -<p>“Suppose she goes out on the balcony?”</p> - -<p>“Slip out through one of the other windows. You -must not lose sight of her.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve got you,” Chick muttered, as he turned at -the head of the stairs and hurried away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[193]</span></p> - -<p>Carter followed the woman in the opposite direction, -admiring her outward composure and the nerve -she was displaying. He saw her enter the last of the -broad doors and thread her way by the throng of -dancers, finally halting near one of the windows leading -out to the balcony, where she was immediately -joined by a colonel of the Guards, in full-dress uniform, -and a lady, with whom he had been dancing.</p> - -<p>Carter paused in the broad doorway, with a quick -and searching glance in each direction. He caught -sight of Chick, just entering a door directly across the -broad, brightly lighted hall. He saw Edna Thurlow -amid the throng of dancers, and noticed that she was -pale and paying little attention to the remarks of her -partner. He saw, too, the tall form of Mr. John -Dorson, who then was standing alone near the second -window beyond that near which Mrs. Thurlow had -halted.</p> - -<p>Though none could know it save the miscreant who -had planned the daring job, the situation then was -one for which he had been waiting, the crucial moment -when conditions assured him of success, when -the avenue fronting the veranda was unobstructed, -when flight would be easy, when the throng in the -ballroom were absorbed in the dance, when the strains -of orchestral music drowned all other sounds, and -when the victim of his designs had paused at a time -and place that perfectly served his purpose.</p> - -<p>Two inconspicuous, bearded men in evening dress, -who had apparently been talking carelessly on the balcony, -suddenly separated.</p> - -<p>One of them glided quickly toward the window<span class="pagenum">[194]</span> -near which Mrs. Thurlow was standing, taking a position -close against the wall.</p> - -<p>The other moved in the opposite direction, stopping -short near the second window and taking a small -electric flash light from his pocket. Hooding it with -both hands, so that its glare might not be observed -by any of the persons then on the balcony, he lighted -the lens for a moment, so holding it that it could be -seen from the grounds, on which motionless motor -cars then were parked.</p> - -<p>The signal was answered almost instantly. The -lamps of one of the motionless motor cars shot a -quick glare outward over the avenue, and in another -moment it was moving moderately in that direction.</p> - -<p>The man with a searchlight turned quickly and entered -the French window. He passed directly back of -Dorson, and, without stopping, whispered hurriedly:</p> - -<p>“Now, Dorson, be quick! Get in your work!”</p> - -<p>Dorson started as if stung. He did not recognize -the bearded man, but there was no mistaking his voice, -that fierce, sibilant hiss that he had heard at the road -house—the threatening voice of Professor Karl Graff.</p> - -<p>Dorson instantly pulled himself together, nevertheless, -and nerved himself for what he had undertaken. -He took the celluloid box from his pocket, -concealing it in his hand, and removed the cover, at -the same time walking toward Mrs. Thurlow, at whom -he had been gazing when he heard Graff’s threatening -command.</p> - -<p>When nearly back of her, Dorson stooped to the -floor and pretended to pick up a handkerchief—which -he had deftly removed from the box, quickly replacing -the latter in his pocket.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[195]</span></p> - -<p>“Pardon me,” said he, stepping in front of her. -“You have dropped your handkerchief, Aunt Clara.”</p> - -<p>The colonel talking with her turned at once to his -partner, and they whirled away amid other dancing -couples.</p> - -<p>“My handkerchief, Jack?” Mrs. Thurlow took it, but -with a look of surprise.</p> - -<p>“I think so.” Dorson drew back a step and with -one hand covered his mouth and nostrils.</p> - -<p>“No, this is not mine. You are mistaken.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure, Aunt Clara? It was on the floor -behind you. I thought you had dropped it.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Thurlow bowed her head a little closer to examine -it, still much crumpled, unfolding it and seeking -an initial.</p> - -<p>“No, it is not mine, Jack,” she repeated. “It may -be marked, however, or—or——”</p> - -<p>Her voice suddenly died away to a whisper. She -looked up at Dorson, as if strangely dazed, and he -saw her eyes quickly taking on the vacant expression -that had been predicted, the pupils contracting to mere -pinpoints, abnormally bright, while her lips turned -from red to a dull gray.</p> - -<p>Though his every nerve was quivering with secret -terror, Dorson kept his head and continued to play his -part. He instantly took the woman’s arm, saying -quietly:</p> - -<p>“You are pale and look tired. Step out on the balcony -with me. The air will revive you.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Thurlow obeyed him as if in a trance or a victim -of an hypnotic spell. She walked out with him -through the French window. There was a large -wicker chair near by, and Dorson placed her in it, then<span class="pagenum">[196]</span> -whisked the fateful handkerchief from her fingers and -thrust it into his pocket. Then he hurried back into -the ballroom, through which he passed as if in haste -to obtain water, as he really was.</p> - -<p>The man lurking near the wall in the dim light -instantly approached the woman. Pausing beside her -chair, he bowed as if to converse with her. His keen, -black eyes shot one swift glance at a few persons on -a remote part of the balcony. None was observing -him. His deft hands quickly lifted the rope of pearls -and dropped it into his pocket. Then he took out a -small glass vial, poured the contents of it upon a -sponge, and held the latter to the woman’s nostrils for -a few seconds.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Thurlow gasped and caught her breath.</p> - -<p>The man accidentally dropped the vial and it rolled -out of sight. He did not wait to search for it, did not -dare to delay his departure. He walked quickly toward -a corner of the balcony, where the top of a vine-covered -trellis rose just above the railing.</p> - -<p>Toby Monk was at that moment passing the corner -with his motor car.</p> - -<p>Both Nick Carter and Chick had witnessed the episode -in the ballroom, and the same thought arose in -the minds of both—that Mrs. Thurlow was perfectly -safe while with her nephew.</p> - -<p>The moment that Dorson returned alone, however, -both detectives felt a quick thrill of suspicion, an instinctive -feeling that the fateful moment had arrived, -and both hurried toward the nearest of the French -windows, making their way as quickly as possible -through the maze of whirling dancers.</p> - -<p>Chick was the first to reach the balcony. Coming<span class="pagenum">[197]</span> -from the glare in the ballroom, he could not immediately -see the seated woman in the dim light outside. -He discovered her in a moment, however, and ran toward -her—just as his chief hurriedly approached from -the opposite direction.</p> - -<p>One glance at Mrs. Thurlow’s white face, at her vacant -eyes and lax figure, at the neck, then bare of its -lustrous adornment—one glance was enough.</p> - -<p>“By thunder, they’ve turned the trick!” Chick cried, -staring. “That man Dorson must——”</p> - -<p>Carter did not wait to hear him. He had swung -around like a flash, seeking the thief, knowing that -scarce a minute had passed since the woman left the -ballroom. The few persons then on the balcony had -not observed any disturbance, but the detective instantly -caught sight of the swaying top of the trellis -mentioned.</p> - -<p>He ran in that direction, reaching for his revolver, -but he arrived at the corner of the balcony rail only -in time to see a slender, black-clad figure leap into -a moving motor car, that instantly sped away down -the avenue—Tim Hurst, with the rope of pearls in his -pocket.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[198]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">WHERE THE TIDE TURNED.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Nick Carter did not attempt to stop the fleeing -crooks. He saw that the avenue was unobstructed, -that the motor car already was attaining high speed, -that a shot from his revolver would probably be -wasted, and that pursuit was utterly out of the question. -He turned back and hastened to rejoin Chick—just -as Jack Dorson returned from the ballroom, -bringing a glass of water.</p> - -<p>Chick was the first to see him, and, having at once -suspected him of aiding the crooks, he impulsively -started to call him down.</p> - -<p>“See here!” he exclaimed. “What motive did you -have in bringing this woman——”</p> - -<p>“A glass of water! Presumably, of course, because -Mrs. Thurlow wanted it. She must have felt ill, for -she appears to have fainted.”</p> - -<p>Carter had cut in quickly with the interruption, but -with a blandness that at once told Chick that he did -not want his suspicions revealed to Dorson, and he -immediately permitted his chief to take the ribbons.</p> - -<p>The entire episode had transpired in far less time -than is required to describe it. Scarce three minutes -had passed since Professor Karl Graff, most skillfully -disguised, an art in which his proficiency soon will become -obvious, had seen the opportunity for which he -had been waiting.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Thurlow was beginning to recover, nevertheless,<span class="pagenum">[199]</span> -though still too dazed to realize what had occurred. -But the stimulant or counteracting agent held -to her nostrils by Tim Hurst, even while he robbed -her of her pearls, was rapidly reviving her—as rapidly -as in the case of the girl on a cot in the Osgood -Hospital.</p> - -<p>Nick had glanced in Dorson’s direction when interrupting -his assistant, and in the light shed through -the French window he caught sight of something glistening -back of Mrs. Thurlow’s chair. He picked it -up and slipped it into his pocket—the vial accidentally -dropped by Tim Hurst in his hasty departure.</p> - -<p>Though the stir had been noticed by a few of the -persons on the balcony, none supposed that a robbery -had been committed, and none had approached to aid -or interfere.</p> - -<p>Jack Dorson saw at a glance that the rope of pearls -was gone, however, and, with nerves now as tense as -bowstrings, he quickly took advantage of the detective’s -remarks, not for a moment dreaming that they -had been designedly made.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, she said she felt faint,” he replied, holding -the glass of water to his aunt’s lips. “I noticed in -the ballroom that she was quite pale. I had picked -up her handkerchief, or one I supposed was hers.”</p> - -<p>“I happened to see you,” Carter nodded. “Wasn’t -it hers?”</p> - -<p>“She said not.”</p> - -<p>“It appears to be missing.”</p> - -<p>“She must have dropped it again.”</p> - -<p>“Very likely.”</p> - -<p>“I told her she had better come out in the air,” -Dorson was explaining very glibly, each moment feeling<span class="pagenum">[200]</span> -more sure of successfully hiding his guilt. “I -came with her and placed her in this chair, and she -then asked me to bring her some water.”</p> - -<p>“Exactly.” Carter agreed with him readily. “I -saw you returning hurriedly, and I thought there -might be something wrong. That’s why I came out -here.”</p> - -<p>“Good heavens!” Dorson now exclaimed, as if suddenly -alarmed. “There is something wrong. See? -Her rope of pearls is gone. She was wearing it when -I left her.”</p> - -<p>“It may have unclasped and fallen to the floor,” the -detective said quickly. “Look around. Try to find -it.”</p> - -<p>Dorson obeyed with alacrity, thinking it the most -consistent course for one anxious to appear entirely -innocent, and Chick hastened to assist him in the -search, now seeing plainly that his chief had some -covert object in the negative steps he was taking.</p> - -<p>Carter had seen, just as the theft of the pearls was -mentioned, that Mrs. Thurlow was sufficiently recovered -to appreciate the loss and also the mystifying -situation. She had started up in her chair, and was -feeling with frantic haste for the stolen treasure, when -Carter bent nearer and grasped her arm, unobserved -by the others.</p> - -<p>“Collect yourself and listen,” he whispered impressively. -“I am Nick Carter, disguised. The pearls are -gone, but that is part of the game I am playing. They -will be returned to you to-morrow. Say not a word -about me, not even to your nephew. I will return -the pearls to you to-morrow evening.”</p> - -<p>“But——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[201]</span></p> - -<p>“Don’t oppose me,” Carter forcibly insisted. “Do -only what I direct. All depends upon it. Tell Edna -not to mention me in the hearing of others. Pretend, -now, that you have been robbed and that I am a -stranger.”</p> - -<p>The scene that immediately followed, for Mrs. -Thurlow understood and yielded to him, was about -what he expected, and also what he wanted. Amid -the ensuing stir and confusion, for an excited throng -gathered as soon as the robbery was announced, he -informed Dorson that he would go and notify the -police, and in company with Chick he immediately departed.</p> - -<p>Not until they were on their way down the avenue, -however, did Chick make any comments or ask any -questions. He then began with saying a bit disgustedly:</p> - -<p>“We seem to be playing a losing game. Is that the -size of it, chief, or what have you up your sleeve?”</p> - -<p>“The crooks have the rope of pearls,” Carter replied, -with grim dryness. “There is no denying that.”</p> - -<p>“And we are beaten to a frazzle.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, not quite as bad as that,” the detective -quickly protested. “We are not done brown, Chick, -by any means.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean? Do you suspect Dorson?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, certainly. It was he who made the crime -possible. He was coöperating with the rascals who -did the more hazardous work.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I suspected.”</p> - -<p>“It’s as plain as twice two, Chick, in view of what -we know about the girls found unconscious in the -hospital grounds. The handkerchief used by Dorson<span class="pagenum">[202]</span> -was impregnated with the same mysterious substance -with which the girls were temporarily overcome. Obviously, -too, the crook who got the pearls administered -the antidote or Mrs. Thurlow would not have revived -so quickly.”</p> - -<p>“The same antidote that restored the four girls.”</p> - -<p>“Undoubtedly. Those were experimental cases, -Chick, as sure as I’m a foot high, in anticipation of -this job. Doctor Devoll was trying out his narcotic, -so to speak.”</p> - -<p>“You still think he is the chief culprit, the man behind -the gun?”</p> - -<p>“He was in every instance the man who revived -the girls, the physician who appeared to perfectly understand -each case.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true,” Chick nodded. “I see the point. -But why did you conceal your suspicions from Dorson?”</p> - -<p>“Because nothing could be gained by revealing -them.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true, also. Wouldn’t it be well to shadow -him, in case he——”</p> - -<p>“Not at present,” Carter interrupted. “He will -make no immediate move. All that he said was, -plainly enough, designed to avert suspicion from himself, -and he will continue to conduct himself along the -same line for a time. We may get him later.”</p> - -<p>“But what are your plans? Where are you going?” -Chick impatiently questioned. “Great Scott! we must -get on the track of those pearls.”</p> - -<p>“I’m on their track, all right,” his chief said grimly. -“More surely on their track than at any stage of the<span class="pagenum">[203]</span> -game. I told Mrs. Thurlow that I would return them -to her to-morrow evening.”</p> - -<p>“Is that so?” Chick gazed at him, surprised. -“Wasn’t that a rather chesty prediction?”</p> - -<p>“Quite so, Chick, but, having got the worst of it, I -had to keep her quiet till I could get the best of it.”</p> - -<p>“There’s something in that.”</p> - -<p>“Besides, I expect to have recovered them by that -time.”</p> - -<p>“Why so? I thought you had something up your -sleeve.”</p> - -<p>“It is in my pocket,” Carter corrected dryly.</p> - -<p>He took it out; the vial he had picked up unobserved -by others. Displaying it between his thumb -and fingers, he told Chick where he had found it; then -added pointedly:</p> - -<p>“It will help some.”</p> - -<p>“You mean——”</p> - -<p>“I mean that I now intend to corner Doctor David -Devoll,” Carter interrupted. “It now is ten o’clock. -Before this time to-morrow, Chick, I’ll have Devoll -where the wool is short. Take my word for it.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[204]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">THE WHEEL WITHIN.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Nick Carter finished his breakfast at eight o’clock -the following morning. He needed no one to tell him -that Patsy Garvan, who still was absent, had fallen -into the hands of the remarkably clever and thus far -successful gang he was seeking. It was only half an -hour later when Carter entered the Osgood Hospital, -where he was received in the business office by Jim -Shannon, then in his customary livery.</p> - -<p>“Doctor Devoll is not here, sir,” he said respectfully, -in reply to the detective’s question. “He seldom -comes here before noon. He has outside patients, -sir, and other business. You might catch him before -he goes out, sir, if your business is important.”</p> - -<p>“Out from where?” Carter asked curtly.</p> - -<p>“From his apartments, sir. He has a suite in the -Pemberton.”</p> - -<p>“Where is that?”</p> - -<p>“About ten minutes’ walk from here,” Shannon said -suavely. “I can find out for you, sir, whether he is -there.”</p> - -<p>“By telephone?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Do so,” the detective said shortly.</p> - -<p>He sat down and kept an eye on the man, who did -not appear in the least disturbed by the detective’s -visit. One less quick to suspect subterfuge would have -apprehended that his suspicions were misplaced, that<span class="pagenum">[205]</span> -Shannon knew nothing about the anonymous letter, -and that Doctor Devoll was not the sender of it, after -all.</p> - -<p>Nick Carter, however, had no such apprehension. -He knew that he was up against as cool and crafty a -gang of knaves as ever stood in leather. He now was -accepting nothing that appeared on the surface. He -was seeking the wheel within.</p> - -<p>He watched and listened while Shannon telephoned, -readily getting Doctor Devoll on the wire and stating -that Mr. Blaisdell, who had called the previous day, -would like to come to the Pemberton to see him. That -was all that Shannon said, noncommittal it was, too, -and he immediately hung up the receiver and turned -to the detective.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, Doctor Devoll is there, and it’s all right,” -he said, with the air of one glad to have conferred -a favor. “He will wait for you. You can go right -up.”</p> - -<p>Nick took all this for what he thought it was worth. -He lingered only to inquire the way, then turned on -his heel and departed.</p> - -<p>Shannon watched him hasten across Hamilton -Square, and then, with a scowl as black as a thunder-cloud, -he darted to the telephone.</p> - -<p>Ten minutes had passed when the detective knocked -on the door of a second-floor suite in the Pemberton, -and he was immediately admitted by the man he was -seeking.</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll looked more lean and bald than usual -in the sunlight shed into his attractively furnished -parlor. He wore a short, velvet jacket, his customary<span class="pagenum">[206]</span> -black vest and trousers, and he greeted the detective -with an ingratiating smile.</p> - -<p>“Come in, Mr. Blaisdell, and take a seat,” he said, -waving Carter to a chair. “I remembered your visit, -of course, when Shannon called me up. You were very -lucky, however, in finding me this morning.”</p> - -<p>“Yes?” queried Carter tentatively.</p> - -<p>“I usually leave here about half past eight, but I -overslept this morning. I was very busy at the hospital -all of last evening, and did not retire till after -midnight.”</p> - -<p>“A serious case or an operation?”</p> - -<p>“Neither. I was doing some writing in my private -room, with the help of my attendant,” Doctor Devoll -explained blandly. Then he added, with a covert leer -deep down in his squinted eyes: “But it’s an ill wind, -indeed, that blows no one any good. What can I -do for you, Mr. Blaisdell?”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter heard him without a change of countenance, -but with no faith in the alibi so quickly volunteered. -He remembered the location of the physician’s -room, the strict privacy that was possible, and his -grounds for having suspected Shannon of duplicity. -He felt sure that they already had framed up a story -to show, if it became necessary, that they were not on -the scene of the robbery the previous evening.</p> - -<p>“You can, I think, give me some very desirable information,” -Carter replied, with steadfast scrutiny. -“Speaking of doing some writing, Doctor Devoll, have -a look at this anonymous letter. Read it, please, and -tell me what you think of it.”</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll took it, smiling, and glanced at the -address.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[207]</span></p> - -<p>“Dear me!” he exclaimed, looking up quickly. “It -is addressed to Nick Carter.”</p> - -<p>“I am Nick Carter.”</p> - -<p>“The famous detective?”</p> - -<p>“I am a detective.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well, this is most surprising.” Devoll appeared -greatly astonished. “I thought your name was -Blaisdell. Why are you using a fictitious name? -What could——”</p> - -<p>“I will presently explain,” Nick interrupted. -“Kindly read the letter.”</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll complied. Nothing denoted that he -was reading his own threatening letter. His crafty -face took on, instead, a look of mingled wonderment -and indignation.</p> - -<p>“Goodness!” said he, gazing straight at Nick. “This -is most amazing. A robbery predicted and your life -threatened. What audacity! What daring knavery!”</p> - -<p>“I agree with you.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know who sent it or suspect?”</p> - -<p>“I do not. Can you help me?”</p> - -<p>“Help you? What a question! Why had you any -such idea?” Doctor Devoll demanded, frowning. “I -cannot imagine who would send you such a letter.”</p> - -<p>“I thought you might know the hand.”</p> - -<p>“It is not familiar to me. Why did you think so?”</p> - -<p>“I will presently tell you,” said Carter. “The sender -has in one respect made good. Mrs. Thurlow’s rope -of pearls was stolen last evening.”</p> - -<p>“Good heavens, is it possible?” Devoll’s brows rose -again with a look of surprise. “In that case, Mr. -Carter, you have only one course.”</p> - -<p>“What is that?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[208]</span></p> - -<p>“That stated in this anonymous letter. No sane -man would ignore such a warning. Leave Madison -as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the sender may -again make good and kill you. I would advise you to -lose no time in returning to New York.”</p> - -<p>“I shall do nothing of the kind.”</p> - -<p>“No?”</p> - -<p>“I shall remain in Madison until I have stuffed that -letter down the sender’s throat.”</p> - -<p>“Well, that’s up to you, of course, and I admire -your nerve.” Doctor Devoll smiled again and returned -the letter. “It strikes me, however, that you will take -a desperate chance, a foolhardy one, in view of the -threat that has been executed. I would expect, if I -were in your shoes, to have my head blown off at any -moment.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll risk it.”</p> - -<p>“As I have said, then, it’s up to you.” Doctor Devoll -drew forward in his chair and spread his hands -on his knees. “But why have you called to show me -the letter, and what do you expect to learn from me? -I know nothing about it or about the theft of the -pearls.”</p> - -<p>Nick glanced down at the physician’s hands. He -noticed that they were white and slender, that the -nails were neatly manicured, and that that on his right -thumb was a bit discolored, as if from a slight bruise. -He looked up and replied:</p> - -<p>“On the contrary, Doctor Devoll, you do know -something about the theft.”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense! What do you mean by that?”</p> - -<p>“Just what I said.”</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll did not reply immediately. He sat<span class="pagenum">[209]</span> -meeting the detective’s searching scrutiny without a -sign of flinching. His narrowed eyes were taking on -a threatening glint, instead, and he said a bit sharply:</p> - -<p>“If you repeat that assertion, Mr. Carter, I will -order you out of my apartments. I insist that I know -nothing about that letter or about the robbery. If -you think I am lying——”</p> - -<p>“One moment,” Nick interposed, checking him. -“Don’t misunderstand me or go over the traces. You -will presently agree with me, Doctor Devoll.”</p> - -<p>“Agree with you?”</p> - -<p>“You have not forgotten, of course, the four girls -found unconscious in the hospital grounds.”</p> - -<p>“No, certainly not.”</p> - -<p>“You treated all of them successfully, but you let -them go without making an investigation. Now, -Doctor Devoll, I happen to know that their abnormal -condition was due to inhaling a powerful narcotic of -some kind from a handkerchief found in a small -leather purse or bag.”</p> - -<p>“Ah! You know more about it, then, than I do.”</p> - -<p>“I know, too, that Mrs. Thurlow was overcome by -like means and robbed. I also know that the thief administered -an antidote that soon revived her—presumably -the same antidote that you administered to -the four girls. That is why I said that you know -something, at least, about the robbery.”</p> - -<p>“You mean——”</p> - -<p>“I mean that you know, of course, of what the antidote -consists,” Nick cut in again. “Otherwise, you -would not have used it. That is a logical conclusion, -isn’t it?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[210]</span></p> - -<p>“Perfectly—if your premises are correct.”</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll did not appear at all disturbed. If -these unexpected discoveries of the detective alarmed -him, he did not betray the fact. Only the gleam that -shone in his narrow eyes was steadily becoming -brighter—and Nick saw and rightly interpreted it.</p> - -<p>“They are correct, doctor, all right,” he replied -a bit grimly. “If you——”</p> - -<p>“Wait!” Doctor Devoll spoke more suavely. “I -now see what you meant, Mr. Carter, and at what -you are driving. I beg to assure you, too, that I would -be very glad to aid you in this matter or give you any -information I possess.”</p> - -<p>“I had no doubt of that, of course,” Nick said dryly.</p> - -<p>“I hope not.” Doctor Devoll smiled again. “But -why do you infer that the restorative I used was the -same as that given to Mrs. Thurlow. I may have employed -only an ordinary stimulant.”</p> - -<p>“I doubt that an ordinary stimulant would have been -effective,” the detective returned. “Furthermore, a -policeman who was present in the case of the last girl -saw you saturate a sponge with an amber-colored fluid -poured from a small fluted vial. Here is one like it, -Doctor Devoll. You may recognize it.”</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll’s nerve did not weaken for an instant. -He merely glanced at the vial Nick was displaying, -and said blandly:</p> - -<p>“You should not have said recognize it, Mr. Carter, -for that implies ownership. I never saw that vial before. -I admit, however, that I have one precisely like -it.”</p> - -<p>“And that it contained the antidote you used?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[211]</span></p> - -<p>“What was it?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t know?” Nick echoed incredulously. “Do -you mean to assert, Doctor Devoll, that you blindly -used——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I admit that it sounds incredible,” Doctor Devoll -interrupted. “It is true, sir, nevertheless. The -vial and its contents were given to me by a friend, a -chemist in whom I have absolute confidence, with directions -how and in what cases to use it. I tried it -successfully on the first of the four girls, and I since -have repeatedly used it. I have not yet learned, however, -what ingredients the fluid contained or how it is -compounded.”</p> - -<p>“Speaking plainly, Doctor Devoll, that story——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I see you are still incredulous,” the physician -again interrupted. “It is not surprising, Mr. Carter, -under the circumstances. But there is one way to -settle it. You can easily verify my statements. Go -with me to my friend and he will corroborate——”</p> - -<p>“Where must we go?” the detective cut in.</p> - -<p>“Not far. He has an office and laboratory in the -Waldmere Chambers.”</p> - -<p>“H’m, is that so? Who is he?”</p> - -<p>“Professor Karl Graff.”</p> - -<p>“Humph!” Nick ejaculated. “I remember him.”</p> - -<p>He now recalled for the first time, in fact, the -elderly man who had approached from the rear of the -corridor in which the corpse of the mysteriously murdered -Gaston Todd was lying. He remembered the -negative statements this man had made. He recalled, -too, Patsy Garvan’s description of the gray-bearded<span class="pagenum">[212]</span> -man seen at Leary’s road house and the mysterious -killing of Leary’s cat. All this flashed upon him with -sudden startling significance, giving color to the physician’s -story—though Nick decided to keep an eye -on him.</p> - -<p>“That’s a good idea,” he said abruptly. “Get ready -at once. We will go together and see him.”</p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll complied with alacrity. A leer lurked -in his eyes when he hastened into his bedroom. He -quickly returned, wearing his black frock coat and -tall silk hat.</p> - -<p>“Now, Mr. Carter, I am ready,” he said, smiling. -“I will speedily set myself right in your estimation.”</p> - -<p>Nick had convictions to the contrary, but he did -not express them. In reality, nevertheless, he was -considerably puzzled by the increasing complications, -and he began to suspect that Professor Karl Graff -might be the guilty man, after all—the discoverer of -the potent narcotic that had made possible the long -series of mysterious crimes.</p> - -<p>It was ten o’clock when they entered the Waldmere -Chambers and hastened up to the second-floor corridor, -toward the rear of which Doctor Devoll conducted -the detective, remarking agreeably:</p> - -<p>“This way to Professor Graff’s office. We are old -friends, and I frequently call here to see him. I have -known him for years.”</p> - -<p>Carter followed him, with a glance at the spot where -Gaston Todd had been found dead, scarcely twenty -feet from the door opened by the physician. He led -the detective in, and a man arose from a table at which -he appeared to have been at work—Tim Hurst.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[213]</span></p> - -<p>“Ah, good morning, doctor,” he said respectfully, -hastening to place chairs for both visitors.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, Tim,” Doctor Devoll said familiarly. -“Is Karl in his laboratory?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir.” Hurst appeared as frank as a schoolboy. -“He has not come down yet. He has not been -coming in much before noon lately, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, well, I can expedite matters,” Devoll said -glibly. “Sit down, Mr. Carter, while I ring him up. -His telephone is in the laboratory.”</p> - -<p>He passed out of a side door while speaking, and -Nick did not detain him, supposing he had merely -entered an adjoining room. The door closed automatically. -Tim Hurst tendered a morning newspaper, -asking politely:</p> - -<p>“Have you read the news, sir? There was another -robbery last night, Mrs. Mortimer Thurlow, sir, the -swell society woman.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know about it,” Nick nodded, sizing Hurst -up more intently. “How long have you been in Professor -Graff’s employ?”</p> - -<p>“About a year, sir; ever since he came here.”</p> - -<p>“He is not an old resident of Madison, then?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. He came here a year ago next month.”</p> - -<p>“Where from?”</p> - -<p>“I am not sure, sir, but I think he—ah, he is coming -right now, sir,” Hurst broke off abruptly. “That’s -his step in the corridor.”</p> - -<p>Professor Graff entered at that moment, wearing a -baggy plaid suit, his overcoat and cape, and with a -rusty felt hat on his gray head. His bearded face took -on a look of mild surprise when he saw the detective,<span class="pagenum">[214]</span> -who immediately arose, while Tim Hurst explained -glibly:</p> - -<p>“This gentleman came with Doctor Devoll to see -you. The doctor has gone down to the laboratory to -telephone to you, thinking——”</p> - -<p>“We’ll go down, Timothy, and save him the trouble,” -Professor Graff interposed blandly, dropping his -coat and cape over a chair. “Will you go with us, -sir, or——”</p> - -<p>“I think I will,” Nick put in, bent upon keeping the -physician under his eye, and noting that the chemist -did not appear to recall him.</p> - -<p>Professor Graff led the way, Nick following, and -Tim Hurst bringing up in the rear. Half a minute -took them down the stairs, through the basement entry, -and into the laboratory.</p> - -<p>The detective flashed a swift glance around the -room, at the zinc-covered table, the bottle-laden -shelves, the ground-glass windows, and at a telephone -on one of the walls. But he failed to see the suspected -physician, and he drew back a step, instinctively reaching -for his revolver.</p> - -<p>Graff turned at the same moment, however, and -thrust a weapon nearly under the detective’s nose.</p> - -<p>“Don’t stir, Carter, foot or finger!” he commanded -sternly. “If you do, you’ll be a dead one on the instant. -I’ll send a bullet through your meddlesome -head.”</p> - -<p>Nick Carter was surprised, but not entirely, by the -sudden threatening situation. His eyes were turned, -not upon Graff’s bearded face, but upon his revolver -and the rigid hand that held it—and upon the slightly -discolored nail of his right thumb.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[215]</span></p> - -<p>Nick recalled where he last had seen it. His gaze -leaped up to the bearded face. In spite of beard and -wig and slouch hat and padded coat, he now discovered -the wheel within. He was gazing not at the remarkably -artistic disguise, but, through it, at the thin face -and threatening eyes of—Doctor David Devoll.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum">[216]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.<br /> -<span class="cheaderfont">THE LAST RESORT.</span></h2> -</div> - - -<p>Chick was not idle that morning while his chief -was engaged as described. He was not without -equally serious misgivings concerning Patsy Garvan -and the wisdom of Carter’s going alone to interview -Doctor Devoll.</p> - -<p>Chick’s anxiety was materially increased, moreover, -when the Wilton House clerk brought him a -letter to the smoking room about an hour after the -chief’s departure, saying inquiringly:</p> - -<p>“This may be important, and perhaps you would -care to open it, though it is addressed to Mr. Blaisdell. -It just came in with the first batch of mail.”</p> - -<p>Chick took it eagerly and instantly recognized the -hand of Patsy Garvan. He tore it open and read—the -hurried letter Patsy had dropped in a street box while -trailing Jim Shannon and Toby Monk.</p> - -<p>Hurried and brief though it was, it told Chick -enough to instantly start him in search of Toby Monk, -and fortune favored him ten minutes later. He found -the crook jitney driver about to depart with his car, -which he had just finished washing in the stable yard -where Patsy had, indeed, picked up a trail worth following.</p> - -<p>Chick sauntered toward him, hands in his pockets, -and glanced at the number plate on the front of the -car. It was wiped as clean as cotton waste and elbow -grease could make it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[217]</span></p> - -<p>Toby Monk gazed at him inquiringly, wondering -whether he was to have an unexpected passenger.</p> - -<p>“This your car?” Chick questioned, as he came -nearer.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, sure,” Monk nodded.</p> - -<p>“That the number of it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, of course. What d’ye think?”</p> - -<p>“I think, then, that you are Toby Monk. Am I -right?”</p> - -<p>“That’s my name, but——”</p> - -<p>“Shove your hands in these, then, and be quick -about it,” Chick snapped sharply, jerking out a pair -of open handcuffs. “Don’t get gay or try to bolt or -I’ll bring you down with a bullet. In with them, or -I’ll break your wrists when I lock them.”</p> - -<p>Toby’s face had gone as gray as ashes, and he -was trembling from head to foot.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I say!” he gasped. “I say——”</p> - -<p>“Stop!” Chick cut in sternly. “We’ve got Devoll, -Shannon, you, and the rest of your thieving gang -where we want you. If you have anything to say, out -with it. What you say now may determine what you’ll -get for last night’s job and a hundred others, including -the murder of Gaston Todd. Come on with it, -if you have anything to say.”</p> - -<p>Toby Monk, cornered and thus sternly confronted, -wilted like a drenched rag. The last vestige of color -had left his cowardly face. He gazed wide-eyed at -Chick and asked hoarsely:</p> - -<p>“Are you a detective—one of the Nick Carter -crowd?”</p> - -<p>“That’s just who I am.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll squeal, then! I’ll squeal,” Toby said hurriedly,<span class="pagenum">[218]</span> -taking the last resort of a treacherous coward. “I’ll -blow the whole business, if that will save my skin. -On the level, God hearing me, I did not kill Todd. -I knew nothing about it. I was out with my jitney -when it was done. I——”</p> - -<p>“But you know who did it, and why,” snapped -Chick, striking while the iron was hot.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes, I know that,” gasped Toby. “Graff did -it—Devoll.”</p> - -<p>“Both——”</p> - -<p>“Both—there ain’t any both!” cried Toby. “They -are one and the same, Graff and Devoll. He’s a nut, -a loon, if ever there was one. He’s got the criminal -bee in his bonnet, and——”</p> - -<p>“Wait!” Chick sternly checked him, suppressing -his surprise at the startling disclosure. “Devoll is -back of the whole business, I know, but what started -him into crime?”</p> - -<p>“He’s a nut, gone dippy, I tell you,” Toby forcibly -insisted. “Besides, he has doctored the hospital books, -stolen some of the funds, and has turned to crime to -get square.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s it, eh?”</p> - -<p>“He began playing two parts a year ago, as a cover -for his jobs, and he rang in three or four of us to -aid him, whacking up part of the plunder with us. -He’s infernally crafty and clever. He poses as Graff -mornings and as Devoll the rest of the time. He lets -only Shannon into his private room in the hospital. -He comes and goes like an evil genius, and that’s just -what he is. He has discovered a narcotic that instantly -dulls the brain and causes sleep till something<span class="pagenum">[219]</span> -else is given. He has invented a noiseless revolver -that shoots a globule of poisonous vapor so deadly that -it instantly kills, and——”</p> - -<p>“That’s what killed Todd?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. He was short in his accounts with his brokers, -but they haven’t discovered it yet. He joined -our gang, hoping to get even, but kicked against robbing -Mrs. Thurlow. He was hoping to marry her -daughter. He threatened to expose Devoll unless he -cut out that job.”</p> - -<p>“And Devoll killed him to prevent it?”</p> - -<p>“That’s what. He saw Frank Paulding going to -visit a client, and he knew that he and Todd were -rivals. So he thought he could incriminate Paulding -and escape suspicion. He telephoned Todd to come -there and wait in the corridor. Then he watched -from his office till he saw a chance to kill him with his -infernal weapon. He then——”</p> - -<p>“Enough of that,” Chick interrupted. “How many -are with you in this gang?”</p> - -<p>“Devoll, Shannon, and Tim Hurst.”</p> - -<p>“Who is Hurst?”</p> - -<p>“He looks after Graff’s office and laboratory in the -Waldmere Chambers.”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t Dorson in it, Mrs. Thurlow’s nephew?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but only for last night’s job.”</p> - -<p>“I thought so,” snapped Chick. “Where is that -rope of pearls?”</p> - -<p>“In Graff’s rooms. Hurst got away with it. He’s -to keep it until——”</p> - -<p>“Until I relieve him of it,” Chick cut in sternly, -dropping the handcuffs into his pocket. “Get into -your car and take me to the Waldmere Chambers.<span class="pagenum">[220]</span> -Pick up two policemen on the way. If you attempt -any monkey business, mind you——”</p> - -<p>“I’ll not, so help me!” Toby hurriedly protested. -“I’ve thrown up my hands.”</p> - -<p>“Get a move on, then. I want Hurst, to begin with, -and that rope of pearls.”</p> - -<p>It was not in Chick’s nature to let grass grow under -his feet after having clinched the entire case in this -way. Ten minutes later, leaving Toby Monk in his -car in charge of a policeman, and with two others at -his own heels, he entered Graff’s office in the Waldmere -Chambers. He found it deserted, but upon -quietly opening the side door, he heard voices from -below.</p> - -<p>This was about three minutes after Graff held up -Nick Carter with a genuine revolver. Not in the least -dismayed by the situation, though greatly surprised -at detecting Devoll’s double identity, which at once -suggested much that Chick had just learned, the detective -temporarily threw up his hands, saying curtly:</p> - -<p>“Well, well, I appear to have walked into a trap. -Don’t be careless with that gun, Professor Graff, or -it might go off. We can discuss this matter without -bloodshed.”</p> - -<p>“It will go off all right, Carter, and not miss its -mark, if you venture to show fight,” Devoll retorted, -with suppressed fury beginning to blaze in his evil -eyes. “I warned you of this. I told you what to -expect if you remained in Madison.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you’re the rat who sent me the anonymous -letter?”</p> - -<p>“Yes—and I meant what I said.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[221]</span></p> - -<p>“So, I see—among other things.”</p> - -<p>“All, you recognize me, and——”</p> - -<p>“Perfectly,” Nick sternly interrupted. “I know all -about you now, and of what you are guilty. I know -that——”</p> - -<p>“You know too much!” Devoll cut in fiercely. “But -it will do you no good. I have you trapped, as I have -trapped others. I warned you, and you have ignored -the warning. You now shall pay the price. I will -end you with a gas that——”</p> - -<p>“That sent Gaston Todd to his death!” snapped -Carter. “I knew it from the first and wanted only the -man.”</p> - -<p>“You know too much!” Devoll fiercely repeated. -“Ho, Shannon, come out here! Bring a rope and -bind him from behind. Lend him a hand, Tim, and -be quick about it! I’ll end him as I ended——”</p> - -<p>What more the frantic man would have said was -cut short by the heavy tread of many hurrying feet.</p> - -<p>Jim Shannon had thrown open the door of a closet, -on the floor of which Patsy Garvan then was lying, -gagged and securely bound, and the burly ruffian, who -had hurried from the hospital after planning with -Devoll this capture of the detective, rushed out with a -rope in each hand, while Tim Hurst darted nearer and -seized Nick from behind.</p> - -<p>Mingled with all this, however, was the rush of -other feet, those of Chick and the policemen, together -with the threatening cries of the former, as they rushed -with weapons drawn upon the startled crooks.</p> - -<p>But the thunder of one weapon drowned all other -sounds—again the last resort.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum">[222]</span></p> - -<p>Doctor Devoll, with his glaring eyes half starting -from his head, hesitated only for an instant. There -leaped up in his frenzied brain a vision of the electric -chair. With a quick turn of his wrist, he thrust -the revolver into his mouth and pulled the trigger. -Then he pitched forward, hands in the air—a corpse -when he hit the floor.</p> - -<p>There was little to it after that, and but little remains -to be said. Shannon and Hurst were easily -overcome, and soon were lodged with Toby Monk in -the city prison, the first step toward the punishment -they righteously deserved.</p> - -<p>Patsy Garvan was speedily liberated, none the worse -for his experience, and only his statements were needed, -if at all, to make a complete and perfect case against -the singular criminal who had ended his evil career -with his own hand.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Thurlow’s rope of pearls was found in a jar in -the laboratory. Nick Carter returned it to her that -afternoon, and told her how and why Dorson had -figured in the theft. Because of his kinship, however, -she refused to prosecute the scamp, and the detective -did not insist upon it.</p> - -<p>Nor did Nick Carter go alone to the Thurlow -mansion that afternoon. He took with him the suspected -man who had at his request spent three days -in prison, and by that humiliation aided him to solve -the mystery and secure the guilty.</p> - -<p>The gratitude of Edna Thurlow and her mother, -as well as that of Frank Paulding, could not be verbally -described; but it found expression in something -much more substantial than words, and Nick Carter<span class="pagenum">[223]</span> -and his assistants returned to New York well repaid -for their fine work in the Madison mystery.</p> - -<p class="center p1">THE END.</p> - -<p class="p1">No. 1010 of the <span class="smcap">New Magnet Library</span>, entitled -“The Gamblers’ Syndicate,” is another fine story in -which the skill, foresight, daring, and dashing bravery -of Nick Carter and his faithful assistants are employed -in running down a gang of organized crooks.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center largefont boldfont">RATTLING GOOD ADVENTURE</p> - -<p class="center xxlargefont boldfont">SPORT STORIES</p> - -<p class="center largefont boldfont">Price, Fifteen Cents <span style="padding-left:1em"><em>Stories of the Big Outdoors</em></span></p> - -<p>There has been a big demand for outdoor stories, and a very considerable -portion of it has been for the Maxwell Stevens stories about -Jack Lightfoot, the athlete.</p> - -<p>These stories are not, strictly speaking, stories for boys, but boys -everywhere will find a great deal in them to interest them.</p> - -<p class="center boldfont"><em>ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT</em></p> - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="Ads"> -<tr><td class="tableft1">1—Jack Lightfoot, the Athlete</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft1">2—Jack Lightfoot’s Crack Nine</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft1">3—Jack Lightfoot Trapped</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft1">4—Jack Lightfoot’s Rival</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft1">5—Jack Lightfoot in Camp</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft1">6—Jack Lightfoot’s Canoe Trip</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft1">7—Jack Lightfoot’s Iron Arm</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft1">8—Jack Lightfoot’s Hoodoo</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft1">9—Jack Lightfoot’s Decision</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft2">10—Jack Lightfoot’s Gun Club</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft2">11—Jack Lightfoot’s Blind</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft2">12—Jack Lightfoot’s Capture</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft2">13—Jack Lightfoot’s Head Work</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -<tr><td class="tableft2">14—Jack Lightfoot’s Wisdom</td><td class="tableftb">By Maxwell Stevens</td></tr> -</table></div> -</div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="boxit1"> - -<p class="center xxlargefont boldfont">The Dealer</p> - -<p>who handles the STREET & SMITH NOVELS -is a man worth patronizing. The fact that he -does handle our books proves that he has considered -the merits of paper-covered lines, and -has decided that the STREET & SMITH -NOVELS are superior to all others.</p> - -<p>He has looked into the question of the morality -of the paper-covered book, for instance, and -feels that he is perfectly safe in handing one of -our novels to any one, because he has our assurance -that nothing except clean, wholesome -literature finds its way into our lines.</p> - -<p>Therefore, the STREET & SMITH NOVEL -dealer is a careful and wise tradesman, and it -is fair to assume selects the other articles he -has for sale with the same degree of intelligence -as he does his paper-covered books.</p> - -<p>Deal with the STREET & SMITH NOVEL -dealer.</p> - -<p class="center largefont boldfont">STREET & SMITH CORPORATION<br /> -79 Seventh Avenue <span style="padding-left:1em">New York City</span> -</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote"> -<h2 id="TN_end" style="margin-top: 0em">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2> - -<p>Punctuation has been made consistent.</p> - -<p>Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in -the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors -have been corrected.</p> -</div></div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hidden Foes, by Nicholas Carter - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIDDEN FOES *** - -***** This file should be named 62860-h.htm or 62860-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/8/6/62860/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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