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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6cffa41 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #69032 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69032) diff --git a/old/69032-0.txt b/old/69032-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c939e43..0000000 --- a/old/69032-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3882 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of New Nick Carter weekly No. 186., by -Nick 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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: New Nick Carter weekly No. 186. - Nick Carter rescues a daughter; or The junior partner's strange - behavior. - -Author: Nick Carter - -Editor: Chickering Carter - -Release Date: October 18, 2022 [eBook #69032] - -Language: English - -Produced by: David Edwards and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team - at https://www.pgdp.net (Northern Illinois University - Digital Library) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEW NICK CARTER WEEKLY NO. -186. *** - - - - - - NICK CARTER WEEKLY. - - _Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1900 by Street & - Smith, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C._ - - _Entered as second class Matter at the New York, N. Y., Post Office._ - - _Issued weekly._ _Subscription price, $2.50 per year._ July 21, 1900. - - -No. 186. STREET & SMITH, Publishers. NEW YORK. 238 William St., N. Y. 5 Cents. - - - - - Nick Carter Rescues a Daughter; - - OR, - - THE JUNIOR PARTNER’S STRANGE BEHAVIOR. - - By the Author of “NICK CARTER.” - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE DEAD GIRL. - - -Nick Carter glanced at his watch as he entered the street door of the -Borden Building, New York City. - -It was exactly half-past five o’clock in the afternoon. - -“I am just on time,” mused the great detective, as he hurried toward the -elevator. - -Neatly folded and stowed away in one of his inside pockets was a note, -which he had received by a messenger on the forenoon of that day. The -note, written on a typewriter, was not signed, and ran as follows: - -“NICHOLAS CARTER, New York City. Dear Sir: Please call at room 59, -Borden Building, at half-past five o’clock this afternoon on important -business. Do not fail.” - -There was such an air of mystery about the message that Nick concluded -he would respond, and promptly to the minute he was at the place named -in the note. - -The Borden Building is one of those structures in lower New York City -which are used almost exclusively as offices. - -It was Saturday afternoon, and when Nick found that the elevator was not -running he was not surprised. - -Evidently most of the offices in the building closed on Saturdays before -this late hour. - -A young man neatly, almost foppishly, dressed, had entered the building -ten seconds ahead of Nick and was near the first landing on the stairs -walking up when Nick placed his foot on the first step ready to follow. - -Just then there came ringing through the building the sound of the -footsteps of some one flying down the stairs in precipitate haste. - -Nick, by looking up, saw that the person making the furious descent was -a boy about fourteen years old. - -The well-dressed young man stopped when he heard the boy coming, and as -the latter reached him he grasped the lad by the coat, and brought him -up with a jerk. - -“What in thunder ails you?” growled the young man. - -For a moment the boy could not utter a word. His face was white as -chalk, his teeth were chattering in his head, and he trembled so that it -seemed he must fall in a heap. - -The young man gave him a vigorous shake and cried: - -“Can’t you speak? What have you done? Where are you going?” - -Then the lad found power to chatter: - -“Oh-h, Mr. Ga-a-ay, she’s de-de-dead.” - -“She’s dead? Who’s dead, you fool?” - -“Mi-Miss Langdon,” gasped the lad. - -“Miss Langdon dead? Why, what do you mean? Speak!” - -“She’s been mu-mu-mur-dered.” - -“What! Where?” - -“Up there in the of-of-office.” - -“Are you telling me the truth?” - -“Indeed I am. Somebody sh-sh-shot her.” - -“Then go call the police, and be quick,” said the young man, as he let -go of the boy’s collar and hastened his ascent of the stairs. - -The lad continued his precipitous descent to the street, and Nick -followed the young man upward. He saw the latter stop on the fifth -floor, and disappear through an open door-way. - -When Nick reached the same place, he noted with much interest that the -No. 59 was painted on the door through which the other man had passed. - -Instantly he asked himself: - -“Has my mysterious note anything to do with what occurred beyond this -door?” - -Nick passed through the open door, and found himself inside a large -general office used by a law firm. - -The name of the firm was also on the door. It was: - - BRIDGELY & BYKE, - - Attorneys-at-Law. - -At the other end of the room a door stood ajar, giving entrance to a -private office. Beyond this door Nick heard high-pitched voices in -altercation. - -He rightly guessed that whatever the tragedy might be, its location was -in that rear office. - -Therefore, he crossed the large room, threw the communicating door open, -and, standing in the doorway, took in the scene at a sweeping glance. - -There were two men in the medium-sized office. - -One was the man who had preceded him up the stairs. - -The man whom the boy had called Mr. Gay. - -The other was an older man, perhaps thirty-five years of age, tall, -stockily built, with a slight stoop in the shoulder, possessing a rather -cold, cynical-looking face, and a pair of gray eyes, which had a habit -of trying to bore holes into everything upon which they centered. - -This man at the time of Nick’s appearance stood leaning against a -flat-topped table with one side of his face toward the door. He saw Nick -as soon as the latter pushed the door wide open. - -The other man’s back was toward the door, and Nick’s presence was not -known to him immediately. - -He was just saying, his remarks being addressed to the older man: - -“Do you think anybody will believe your story?” - -The speaker was pointing to something before him. - -That something was the form of a young woman seated in a chair before an -open scroll-topped desk. One arm hung helplessly at her side, and she -had, apparently, partly fallen forward until her head and left arm -rested upon the desk. - -Nick recognized in this form the victim of a tragedy. - -Before the detective had time to move a step forward, the elder man, -with those gray eyes focused upon Nick’s face, said: - -“What do you want?” - -“I want to know what has been going on here.” - -The younger man had wheeled around facing Nick, and he, in turn, asked: - -“Who are you?” - -“I am Nick Carter.” - -To Nick’s surprise the young man moved back several steps as if annoyed -or confused, and the elder scowled without removing his gray eyes from -Nick’s face. - -The latter advanced to the desk where the form of the young woman -reclined, and made a quick examination. - -There was a bullet wound in her right temple. The ball had pierced her -brain, and she was dead. - -On the right hand was a glove into which the fingers had been fitted, -but the thumb and upper part of the hand were still bare. - -The first inference drawn from this fact was that she had been shot -while engaged in putting on her gloves preparatory to leaving the -office. - -In the minute which followed, Nick made one of his lightning ocular -inspections of the premises, in which very little was left to be -discovered. - -At the end of that time the sound of many rushing footsteps was heard -coming up the stairs. - -All this time the two men in the room with him remained silent and -inactive. - -Nick walked into the main office, and met the first man of the ascending -throng at the door. - -It was a young policeman, whom Nick happened to know quite well. - -“Ah, Brown!” exclaimed Nick, confronting the officer at the threshold, -“I’m glad ’tis you. You’ll understand me without a lengthy -explanation.” - -“Who are you?” panted Brown, for Nick of course, was in disguise. - -“I am Nick Carter. There has been a crime committed back there, and -until I know more about it you must keep everybody out. Let none of -these curiosity-seekers intrude.” - -“I am at your service, Mr. Carter,” said Brown. “Lord, I’m glad you’re -here. Seems to me you always bob up when anything happens. What is it? -Murder?” - -“I want to find out. Is there anybody with you?” - -“Yes, McCarthy is coming, but he’s so fat it’s hard and slow work for -him to get up all these stairs. Here he is now.” - -Some one rapped on the door at that instant. Brown admitted a policeman, -who was blowing like a porpoise. - -“Bad cess to thim shtairs!” gasped McCarthy, “an’ thor had bin tin more -ov ’em, sure it’s a dead mon I’d be this minute.” - -“Well, McCarthy, just take charge of this door, and see that no one -enters who has no right. Those who have a right, and whom I want to come -in, are persons who have been in this building within the last hour, and -the boy who carried you the news.” - -Brown opened the door and beckoned to the boy to enter. The latter drew -back as if about to fly again, but a man near by grasped him by the -shoulder and pushed him toward the door. - -“Who are you?” inquired Nick. - -“I’m the janitor,” was the reply. - -“Then come in, too.” - -Still keeping hold of the terrified boy, the janitor entered the office -and the door was once more closed in the face of the crowd, which by -this time numbered nearly a score. - -“Brown, I want you to summon the coroner, or one of his deputies just as -soon as you can get him here.” - -Brown asked no questions, but left on his mission instantly. - -“What’s your name?” asked Nick, turning to the janitor. - -“Bush--John Bush, sir.” - -“Then, Mr. Bush, I want you to look out among the people in that crowd -in the hall and identify anybody who has offices in this building.” - -McCarthy held the door ajar while the janitor scanned the eager faces in -the crowd. - -“There is Mr. Grote, Mr. Kennedy, and Miss Lucas,” was his report. - -“Tell them to come in,” commanded Nick, in a low voice. - -“Will Mr. Grote, Mr. Kennedy, and Miss Lucas come in?” said the janitor, -addressing his words to the collection of people in the hall. - -The three persons answering to these names crowded their way forward, -and were admitted. - -Then the door closed again. - -To the five people inside, not including the policeman, Nick said: - -“You will wait in this room until further orders. Meanwhile, officer,” -turning and addressing McCarthy, “let no one else in until Brown returns -with the coroner, and see that nobody meantime leaves by that door.” - -Nick turned toward the inner room to find the young, stylishly-dressed -man looking out, much interested at what had been going on in the larger -office. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE GLOVE ON THE DEAD GIRL’S HAND. - - -Nick returned to the rear room. His first act was probably a surprise to -both the men whom he had found there when he first entered. - -In short, he requested the two men to step into the outer office. - -They complied rather hesitatingly. - -He followed them, and closed the communicating door. - -Then he coolly took a seat near by, and waited for the coroner. - -Fifteen minutes after Brown started to bring the coroner, he returned in -company with that official. - -Nick met the coroner quietly, and lost no time in making himself known -to him. - -Then he requested Brown to send the crowd on the outside about their -business, and again cautioned McCarthy to let no one of those in the -large office go out. - -This done, he preceded the coroner into the rear office, and closed the -door behind them. - -The coroner took a quick inventory of the surroundings, and then turned -to Nick for information. - -The detective related everything just as it occurred to him, except that -he made no mention of the type-written note which had brought him to the -scene at such a strange time. - -“And what have you learned of the case from those two men, Mr. Carter?” -inquired the coroner. - -“Nothing. I have asked not a single question, preferring to wait till -you got here to receive the story of the case as these people can or -will give it.” - -“That is quite complimentary, I am sure, Mr. Carter. Whom shall we -question first?” - -“Before we question anybody let me tell you about a few things I have -noted in this office.” - -“All right--go on.” - -“The victim was shot in the right temple.” - -“I see.” - -“From the position of the body the shot must have been fired by some one -standing in front of that window, or the shot must have come from across -the street and through the open window.” - -The coroner noticed that the desk on which the dead woman had fallen was -almost exactly in front of an open window and about twelve feet from -it. - -He glanced across the street and discovered that a window in an opposite -building was directly in line with the office window and the desk. - -“You think the shot was fired by some one standing in that window over -there?” - -“I did not say so. On the contrary, I found this pistol lying directly -under the victim’s dependent hand.” - -“Suicide?” - -“I am expressing no opinion, just stating facts,” quietly remarked Nick, -as the coroner took a pistol from him and examined it. - -The weapon was of Smith & Wesson make, had six chambers, was peculiarly -mounted, and on a silver plate inlaid in the handle were the initials -“E. L.” - -One of the chambers contained the empty shell of a cartridge. The other -four were loaded. - -The coroner stooped, and inspected the wound in the head of the victim. - -“I see no powder marks on her face,” he said, looking up at Nick. - -“There are none. Besides, I call your attention to the condition of the -right hand.” - -The coroner’s eyes turned quickly to the hand of the corpse, which hung -at the side of the body. - -“Ha! I see. She was putting on her glove, and couldn’t have handled the -pistol herself.” - -“Not unless she fired the shot with her left hand.” - -“But the bullet entered the right temple?” - -“I am not sure of it.” - -“But see. Here is the wound,” cried the coroner, pointing to the little -blue spot on the side of the girl’s face, which was turned up to their -gaze. - -“Yes, that is a wound. But the bullet might have come out at that place -instead of going in.” - -“Oh! Then there is a wound on the other side of the head; the side which -lies upon the desk.” - -“I think there is.” - -“You think. Don’t you know--have you not raised the head to see?” - -“I have not raised the head to see, but I know there is.” - -“Why, how do you know if you have not seen?” - -“Because here is the fatal bullet, and it not only went into her head, -but clean through it.” - -“Where did you find it?” - -“In that corner of the room back there.” - -“Why, that is almost behind the body?” - -“Yes. The bullet passed through her head, hit the steam coil on the -other side of the desk, and carromed at an acute angle, fetching up in -the corner where I found it.” - -“It was surely not suicide,” mused the coroner. - -“It may not have been,” responded Nick. - -“She would certainly not have stopped while putting on her gloves to -commit suicide?” - -“You say gloves. There is but one glove,” remarked Nick, dryly. - -“Only one in sight. We shall find the other, I presume, if we make -search.” - -“I doubt it.” - -“Why?” - -“Because the glove she partly put on that hand is not her own.” - -“Not her own? Why, man, how do you know?” - -“Because it is fully a size too small for her.” - -“But----” - -“You would say she has it partly on. That is true, but if you examine it -carefully you will see that the fingers would not even go in as far as -the ends. The glove could not have been forced on her hands.” - -“Then whose is it?” - -“I don’t know,” said Nick, who meanwhile had walked across the office -and was examining a woman’s light sack which hung from a hook on the -wall. “It certainly didn’t belong to her, for here is the pair she -used.” - -He held up a pair of gloves of an entirely different color, and probably -several sizes larger than that which was partially on the hand of the -corpse. - -“Well, by Jove!” muttered the coroner. - -Nick had reached down again into the pocket in which he found the -gloves. This time he fished out a lady’s pocket-book. Without opening -it, he carried it across the room and gently pulled the glove from the -stiffening fingers of the dead girl. - -Then he rolled the three gloves and the pocket-book up together, and put -them all away in an inside pocket of his coat. - -“With your permission, I’ll take charge of these important articles of -evidence,” he said to the coroner. - -The latter nodded assent, and asked: - -“What is in the pocket-book?” - -“We’ll find out later when I’ve time to examine it. Now, we must get -together our facts by questioning those people out there one at a time.” - -“A good idea.” - -“But, before we begin, I want to make a request.” - -“Name it.” - -“That you postpone the inquest from day to day till I have a chance to -get to the very bottom of the mystery.” - -“Willingly, my boy, and meantime I’ll not bother my brains about it, -because I know what Nick Carter cannot fathom in a case like this will -never be found out.” - -“Thank you. Now, we will call in and question our first witness.” - -“Who will it be? the elder of the two men--the one who must have been -here first after the tragedy or when it occurred?” - -“No, I think I’ll first hear what the younger and more fashionably -dressed one of the two has to tell. I’ll call him in.” - -So saying, Nick went to the dividing door, opened it, and beckoned to -the man who had preceded him up the stairs only a few seconds to the -scene of the tragedy. - -The young man entered the rear office, plainly laboring under great -excitement. Nick closed and locked the door, invited his witness to take -a seat, and lost no time in beginning his examination. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -WHAT THE CONFIDENTIAL CLERK KNEW. - - -“In order to get down to the facts in this case,” began Nick, addressing -the young man, “it will be necessary to apply for information to those -who are supposed to be in possession of the knowledge we seek. We have, -therefore, called you in first to set us on the way in our inquiry.” - -“I am ready to answer any question which it is in my power to do?” -responded the young man, trying hard to repress his nervousness. - -“What is your name?” - -“Oscar Gay.” - -“What is your business?” - -“Confidential clerk.” - -“For whom?” - -“Bridgely & Byke.” - -“Where are Messrs. Bridgely & Byke now?” - -“Mr. Byke is in Europe--has been away about one month.” - -“And Bridgely?” - -“Bridgely has been dead more than a year.” - -“Then Byke represents the firm as it existed before the death of the -senior partner--he constitutes the firm?” - -Gay hesitated and shuffled uneasily in his seat for a few moments before -he replied: - -“The firm name remains the same, but Mr. Byke has a partner.” - -“Who?” - -“Victor Redway.” - -“The man I found in this room with you a while ago?” - -“Yes.” - -“This Redway, do I understand you, took a place in the firm after -Bridgely’s death?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“And before that?” - -“He was the confidential clerk of the firm.” - -“Then you succeeded in the place made vacant by him when he was admitted -to partnership by Mr. Byke?” - -“I did.” - -“Now, Mr. Gay, who was that dead girl--she was scarcely more than a -girl.” - -“Her name was Estelle Langdon. She was the office stenographer and -type-writer.” - -“Where did she live?” - -“Somewhere up in Harlem.” - -“Was she married?” - -Gay’s eyes gave a quick flash toward Nick’s face at this question--a -fact the detective mentally noted without pretending to notice it. The -answer came almost immediately. - -“Not that anybody was aware of.” - -“Has she relatives?” - -“None--I believe.” - -“How long have you known her?” - -“About six months since she came here.” - -“What do you know about the way she died?” - -“Nothing, except what I saw as I entered the office just before you -came.” - -“Tell us what that was--what you saw.” - -“The body was lying there just as it is now. Mr. Redway was near by on -the side next to the window. When I entered, his body was in a bent -position, and one hand was extended toward the pistol on the floor.” - -“About to pick it up?” - -“Either that, or had just laid it down.” - -Nick came to a dead halt in his queries at this answer, and sat for -thirty seconds looking Gay straight in the face. The latter became -plainly uncomfortable under the detective’s glance. - -“Did you ever see that pistol before?” inquired Nick, when he once more -continued his examination. - -“I did.” - -“To whom did it belong?” - -“To Victor Redway.” - -“But the initials ‘E. L.,’ how do you account for them?” - -“I can’t account for them. They were on the pistol as long as I knew -Redway to possess it.” - -“How long is that?” - -“Several months.” - -“Did Redway carry this pistol regularly?” - -“He never carried it.” - -“Then where did he keep it?” - -“In the drawer of his desk over there.” - -Gay nodded to the flat-topped desk setting against the wall to the right -of the open window, and almost directly behind the corpse. - -“You are sure of that statement?” - -“Yes, I have seen it there often.” - -“Didn’t he keep the desk locked?” - -“No. I never knew him to carry a key to the desk.” - -“Then Miss Langdon could have got the pistol herself had she chosen?” - -“I suppose so.” - -“What was the relationship of Redway and Miss Langdon?” - -“What do you mean?” - -“Were they on friendly terms?” - -“Oh, yes.” - -“Very confidential?” - -“No, hardly that, I guess. Not in the presence of any one else, anyhow.” - -“Might they have been lovers?” - -“If they were, no one knew it.” - -“Did they ever quarrel?” - -“Not to my knowledge.” - -“They occupied this office together?” - -“Yes.” - -“Where is your desk?” - -“In that other private office,” pointing to an adjoining room into which -a door gave communication a little to the right of the desk on which the -body lay, and separated from the office they were in by a heavy division -wall. The door was closed, but a transom above the door stood wide open, -as Nick was quick to note. - -He lost no time in fixing in his mind the location of this room in its -connection with the other two. - -It formed the L to the suite, and had no direct communication with the -large or general office. There were two doors only to this third room. -One connected it with the room in which the body was found and the other -opened into the hall. - -Therefore, to get into that room, it was necessary to enter either -directly from the hall or through both the other offices. - -“This is Mr. Byke’s private office, I suppose?” - -“Yes.” - -“And you, as his confidential clerk, have your desk in there?” - -“Only in his absence; when he is at home, I occupy a desk in the large -office.” - -“Were you in there at your desk to-day?” - -“Not since noon.” - -“You were absent since noon?” - -“Yes, until I returned just in time to be ‘in at the death.’” - -There was a bad attempt to smile, as this was said, but the smile was -painfully forced. - -“Then you know nothing about the manner of the tragedy?” - -“Nothing.” - -“You and Redway were exchanging hot words when I surprised you. What was -it that passed between you?” - -“I accused him of having killed Miss Langdon.” - -“And what reply did he make?” - -“He was insolent. Asked me what I intended to do about it, and wanted to -know what proofs I had to fortify my charges.” - -“And then?” - -“You came almost before I could reply.” - -“And have you any proofs?” - -“Nothing but suspicion.” - -“On what is that suspicion based?” - -“Well, I’ve noticed that Miss Langdon has been growing fond of him for -the last few months. She showed it frequently. I imagined that he at -first received her preferences with pleasure, but that of late they had -become annoying to him.” - -“That is the result of observation only?” - -“That is all. I may be mistaken, too, you know.” - -“Has Redway a family?” - -“Do you mean is he married?” - -“Yes. Has he a wife, children, or relatives with whom he lives?” - -“I believe not--not that any one knows of.” - -“Where does he live?” - -“In bachelor apartments on Fifty-fifth street.” - -“That will do for the present, Mr. Gay.” - -The young man arose, and started to go into the other private room by -way of the communicating door, but Nick stopped him. - -“Not there, Mr. Gay. You will be so kind as to remain in the outer -office until we have questioned the other parties.” - -Gay scowled and went reluctantly back to the large office. - -Nick gave the coroner a significant look, and remarked: - -“He seems to be very anxious to get into that closed room, but he’ll not -do it till I’ve had a look in there first myself.” - -“What do you make of this Oscar Gay?” asked the coroner. - -“Nothing--yet. We’ll now see what Victor Redway has to say.” - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE JUNIOR PARTNER’S STRANGE BEHAVIOR. - - -Victor Redway entered the room of death looking pale and worried. He -cast a glance at the body of the dead girl, and a perceptible shudder -shook his frame. - -Nick lost no time in “doing business” with the junior member of the law -firm. - -“Your name is Victor Redway?” began Nick. - -Redway nodded assent. - -“The junior member of this law firm?” - -“As Mr. Gay informed you, I presume.” - -There was a decided sneer in the reply. - -“Mr. Gay has told us a number of things. How many of them were truth -remains to be seen.” - -As Nick said this, he did not fail to notice that Redway seemed pleased -with the latter part of the sentence. - -“The two men are enemies, if not openly, then unavowed,” thought Nick. -To Redway he said: - -“We have called you in here to get your version or story of the tragedy -so far as you are willing to give it.” - -“Willing to give it? What do you mean?” - -“Why, this: I am a detective; this is the coroner; you are a lawyer. -This is not an inquest, nor yet a preliminary hearing; you are not under -oath. There may be circumstances about the death of that girl which you -do not desire to tell. Indeed, it might be to your interest not to talk -of it at all.” - -Redway looked at Nick long and steadily. At last he said: - -“I think I understand you. You believe I killed her?” - -“I have no belief one way or the other. It is my business to prove, to -know, not to believe.” - -“But I am suspected?” - -“The law will undoubtedly look to you to make a satisfactory explanation -of your knowledge of the crime, or your ignorance of it.” - -“Well, suppose you ask me your questions.” - -“You will answer?” - -“Some of them, perhaps. As a lawyer, I may choose to remain silent on -some points--for the present, at least.” - -“Then I’ll begin at the beginning. Mr. Redway, did you kill that girl?” - -The answer came without hesitation, and accompanied by the faintest -touch of a smile. - -“I certainly did not.” - -“Do you know who did?” - -The answer to this question was not given so spontaneously, and the -smile gave way just an instant to the shadow of a frown. After only a -moment of hesitation, Redway replied: - -“No, I do not.” - -“Do you believe she committed suicide?” - -“My belief on that score is not of any value.” - -“Do you know whether she had any cause to kill herself?” - -“No.” - -“Did you ever hear her threaten to kill herself?” - -“Not directly.” - -“Will you explain?” - -“Well, she once dropped the remark that if she ever married, and her -husband deserted her for another woman she would, she believed, kill -herself.” - -“Ah!” - -“But she would first kill the man who deceived her and the woman who -robbed her of her rights?” - -“Oh! What called forth this declaration?” - -“The story of a client who had suffered somewhat in the same manner.” - -“How did she hear the story?” - -“I told it to her.” - -“She was not married?” - -“Not to my knowledge.” - -“Had she a lover?” - -“How should I know.” - -“Were you and she not on confidential terms?” - -“Why should we be?” - -“You two were in here together a great deal.” - -“True, as man and employee. I am not one to become confidential with an -office attache.” - -“Not even with a pretty woman?” - -“Especially not with a woman of any kind.” - -There was a hard, bitter ring to these words, which Nick did not fail to -make a note of. - -“Yet you told her the story of that deceived client.” - -“There was a reason for that.” - -“What reason?” - -Redway frowned again, and answered: - -“That is something I refuse to say.” - -“You were not her lover, Mr. Redway?” - -An angry flush mounted the young lawyer’s brow, and he replied: - -“The question is not worthy of an answer.” - -“You are sure you never gave her cause to believe you thought more of -her than any other young woman?” - -“I don’t pretend to know what is in any woman’s mind.” - -“But your treatment of her----” - -“Was of a business kind entirely.” - -“Well, we’ll leave that part of the subject and come down to the -tragedy. Were you in the room when the fatal shot was fired?” - -“Why, no, certainly not.” - -“Where were you?” - -“On the street.” - -“Was there any one in the office at the time?” - -“I don’t know.” - -“When you came in you found her lying there on that desk dead?” - -Nick once more noticed just the mote of a hesitation in the reply. - -“Yes, she was sitting there in that chair stone dead.” - -“How long had you been out of the office?” - -“Ten or fifteen minutes--maybe longer.” - -“Where had you gone?” - -“To the street.” - -“To any particular place?” - -“Yes.” - -“You had an object in leaving the office for the street?” - -“Perhaps.” - -“But had you not?” - -“Oh, yes. There usually is an object in all we do.” - -“Well, what was your object in this instance?” - -“I think I will not answer that question.” - -“Very well. When you went out, what was Miss Langdon doing?” - -“Putting her desk in order.” - -“Preparatory to leaving?” - -“I supposed so.” - -“Was it her time to go home?” - -“It was past the time.” - -“What had detained her?” - -“I don’t know. A woman’s whim, perhaps.” - -“Did you say anything to her as you went out?” - -“Yes.” - -“What?” - -“She asked me: ‘Are you going, Mr. Redway,’ and I replied: ‘Yes.’” - -“She meant to ask whether you were leaving for the day?” - -“I suppose so.” - -“And you deceived her?” - -“No. I had no intention then of coming back.” - -“What changed your mind?” - -“A mere whim. I couldn’t answer you intelligently on that point.” - -“You mean you will not,” thought Nick. - -“When you came in you found her dead?” Nick continued. - -“Yes, I said so before.” - -“Any one else in the office?” - -“No.” - -“You gave no immediate alarm?” - -“No.” - -“Why?” - -“Because I realized from the first that it was an awkward fix for me to -be in, any way I could manage it.” - -“So you remained?” - -“Yes.” - -“What did you do here alone with the corpse?” - -Redway’s gray eyes once more turned sharply on Nick’s face before he -made reply. - -“I spent a few minutes trying to find some trace of the crime, and at -the same time figuring upon my own danger.” - -“So you waited for some one to come in?” - -“I waited till some one did come in.” - -“Who was it?” - -“Jack Marston--the office boy.” - -“How long after you returned was it till Jack Marston appeared?” - -“I don’t know. A man under such circumstances hasn’t much knowledge of -time.” - -“Did you send him to summon the police?” - -“I made him understand that Miss Langdon had been killed, and--well, he -did the rest without waiting for directions.” - -Again that faint smile twitched the corners of Redway’s stern mouth. - -“And while he was gone Gay came in?” - -“Yes.” - -“When he entered the door where were you?” - -“At the side of the corpse.” - -“What were you doing?” - -“I had just stooped to pick up the pistol.” - -“Oh! But you didn’t pick it up?” - -“Why, no! In my personal contact with Gay I forgot it.” - -Nick gave a quiet chuckle in his innermost soul at so neatly trapping a -lawyer. - -“Whose pistol was it, Mr. Redway?” - -“Mine.” - -“Where was it when you saw it last before you saw it on the floor near -the dead girl?” - -“In the drawer of my desk over there.” - -“When was that?” - -“This morning.” - -“Was it loaded?” - -“Yes.” - -“Every chamber?” - -“I remember distinctly filling the chambers with cartridges yesterday, -and I have not fired one of them since.” - -Nick noted the evasive answer. - -“Were you in the habit of keeping it loaded?” - -“No. On the contrary, I seldom had a cartridge in it. Yesterday I bought -some and filled the chambers.” - -“What for?” - -“I intended it for the benefit of a cat which spends the midnight -keeping people awake.” - -“Another evasive answer,” mentally noted Nick. - -“Well?” - -“Well, I went away without taking it with me. Hence it lay there all day -loaded.” - -“Did Miss Langdon know the pistol was in that drawer?” - -“I suppose she did. The drawer was never locked, and she frequently went -there to get things out of it.” - -“That is all I have to ask you at present, Mr. Redway. Will you have the -kindness to remain in the outer office till we have a talk with the -office boy?” - -“I have no choice but to oblige you,” came the sarcastic reply, and the -junior partner left the room. - -The coroner looked at Nick with a puzzled expression on his face. - -“What do you make of Mr. Redway?” he asked. - -“Nothing yet, but there is a good deal more to learn which may place Mr. -Redway in an entirely different light. Now for Jack Marston. I depend on -the boy for information which may be most valuable.” - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE MYSTERIOUS LADY CALLER. - - -Jack Marston labored under extreme terror in the presence of the dead -girl--so much so that Nick spent five minutes getting the lad’s mind in -condition to answer questions coherently. Then he began on the lad -cautiously. - -“How long have you been office boy for Bridgely & Byke, Jack?” asked the -detective. - -“Nearly two years.” - -“What are your hours?” - -“I get here at eight o’clock, and this time of year go home generally at -five.” - -“The office is closed up at that time?” - -“The janitor generally takes it to clean up. Sometimes he don’t get in -till later.” - -“Do you lock up when you go away?” - -“No, the janitor does that.” - -“Who leaves the first generally?” - -“Mr. Byke, when he’s here.” - -“And when he’s not here?” - -“Why, Mr. Gay. Mr. Gay has been out a good deal since Mr. Byke went to -Europe. He went away to-day about eleven o’clock, and told me he wasn’t -coming back, but he did come, late as it was.” - -“Are you always the last to leave?” - -“No, sir! Sometimes Mr. Redway stays here later than five, but he never -keeps me.” - -“And Miss Langdon?” - -“She always left when I did--at five o’clock. The elevator stops running -then.” - -“But she didn’t leave at five to-day?” - -“I guess not, sir.” - -“How does it come you returned to-day after your hour for going home?” - -“Mr. Redway sent me on an errand.” - -“What kind of an errand?” - -“To take his watch to a jeweler’s on Broadway to be cleaned.” - -“What time was that?” - -“Ten minutes before five.” - -“And told you to come back?” - -“No, sir; he said I needn’t come back. But the jeweler’s place was -closed on account of a death in the family and I came back with the -watch.” - -“Did you give him the watch?” - -“No, sir, I forgot it. I was so scared.” - -“Where is it?” - -“In my pocket.” - -“Let me see it.” - -The boy handed to Nick a magnificent gold hunting case watch. Merely -glancing at it, Nick said: - -“I’ll return this to Mr. Redway. You needn’t tell him that the jeweler’s -place was closed.” - -“But----” - -“No buts about it, lad. I am Nick Carter, and represent Superintendent -Byrnes, and this is the coroner. You do what I tell you and no harm -shall come to you.” - -Nick saw he was dealing with a naturally bright, quick-witted and honest -lad. - -“Now, then, Jack, tell me. Who was here in these offices when you left -to take Mr. Redway’s watch to the jeweler’s?” - -“Nobody, except him and Miss Langdon.” - -“That was ten minutes before five.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“You are sure that he didn’t follow you to the street?” - -“Not that I saw. He had just come in from the street about ten minutes -before.” - -“Oh!” - -“Yes, sir, he went out with a lady, and was gone nearly half an hour.” - -“Who was she?” - -“I don’t know. I never saw her before.” - -“What kind of looking lady was she?” - -“Young and very handsome.” - -“Whom did she ask for when she came?” - -“For Mr. Redway.” - -“Did she not give a name?” - -“No, sir. I asked her for her name. But she replied with a question, ‘Is -he in there?’ Then she walked back, opened the door, came in here and -shut it.” - -“Before the door closed I heard Mr. Redway say, ‘What--you here?’” - -“Where was Miss Langdon?” - -“Out at lunch.” - -“What time was that?” - -“When the lady came?” - -“Yes.” - -“About half-past two o’clock.” - -“And how long did she stay?” - -“Till a quarter past four.” - -“Was in there all that time with Mr. Redway?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Did no one disturb them?” - -“No, sir. Mr. Redway gave me orders soon after the lady went in that he -was not to be disturbed by anybody. So I sent several parties away.” - -“But Miss Langdon?” - -“She came back about a quarter of three and sat out there in the big -office with me till the lady went away.” - -“Didn’t she appear to be curious about the strange visitor?” - -“Not one bit till the lady went out and she saw her. Then she got -somewhat excited.” - -“She saw the woman as the latter went out?” - -“Yes, sir. Miss Langdon was in the big office as Mr. Redway and the lady -went through on their way to the elevator. Mr. Redway said to me as he -passed, ‘I’ll be back soon, Jack,’ and accompanied the lady downstairs.” - -“I don’t believe either of them saw Miss Langdon, who was sitting in the -corner, sort of behind the door.” - -“And you say the sight of the strange woman excited her?” - -“Very much. As soon as they were on the elevator she began asking -questions about the woman, and seemed to be very much worked up, though -up to that time she scarcely seemed to give the lady visitor a thought.” - -“Was Miss Langdon inclined to grow excited?” - -“No, sir. On the contrary, she was nearly always quiet and easy-going.” - -“What did she do till Mr. Redway returned?” - -“Walked around in that office there nervously, and seemed as if she -couldn’t wait till he got back.” - -“Well, when he came back--what then?” - -“He went right back to the office, and left the door open behind him. -Miss Langdon shut it herself.” - -“Ah! that is interesting. Go on.” - -“I didn’t hear much that was said, though I might had I cared to listen, -for Miss Langdon’s voice was raised to a high pitch.” - -“Did you hear anything?” - -“Yes. I couldn’t help it. She almost shrieked the words.” - -“What words?” - -“Why, these: ‘If I was sure of it, her life wouldn’t be worth a penny.’” - -“Were they still quarreling when you were sent out with Mr. Redway’s -watch?” - -“No, sir. At least, she seemed to have cooled off considerable.” - -“When you came in what was Mr. Redway doing?” - -“Washing his hands in that stationary basin over there,” said Jack, -pointing to a lavatory behind a screen in one corner of the office. - -“What did he say?” - -“He seemed very much surprised and somewhat confused. I saw Miss Langdon -lying on the desk that way, and, remembering the scene between them, I -asked: - -“‘Why, Mr. Redway, what ails her?’ - -“He said: ‘Jack, she has met with an awful accident.’ - -“Then I went up, and as soon as I saw she was dead I ran as fast as I -could downstairs and met Mr. Gay coming up.” - -“Did you ever see this pistol, Jack?” - -“Yes, sir, often.” - -“Where?” - -“In Mr. Redway’s desk over there.” - -“When did you see it last?” - -“Yesterday.” - -“Where?” - -“In Miss Langdon’s hands.” - -“What was she doing with it?” - -“Loading it.” - -“What for?” - -“She said Mr. Redway had loaned it to her to shoot a cat.” - -Nick’s mind instantly reverted to Redway’s evasive words about shooting -cats. - -“But she didn’t use it, I guess?” ventured Nick. - -“I don’t know, but I reckon she tried it.” - -“Why?” - -“The pistol was not there last night after she went away.” - -“Are you sure?” - -“Quite sure. I went to the drawer for some blanks, and the pistol was -gone, though the box of cartridges was still there.” - -“Did you see the pistol this evening?” - -“I haven’t seen it since till now.” - -“It was on the floor, almost at the touch of Miss Langdon’s hand.” - -“The one which hung down--had the glove on?” - -“Yes.” - -“You are mistaken, sir.” - -“What do you mean?” - -“I noticed the hand with the glove on when I went to look at her. There -was no pistol near it.” - -“You may not have noticed it.” - -“I would have seen it if it had been there,” insisted Jack. - -With a caution to the lad to keep sealed lips for a day or two Nick -dismissed him. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -WHAT THE STRANGE WOMAN SAW FROM ACROSS THE STREET. - - -The janitor was the next person called and questioned. - -“You take charge of the offices every evening to clean them out and lock -them up, do you not?” asked Nick. - -“I do, sir.” - -“What time do you generally begin that work?” - -“Usually right after five o’clock, when Mr. Redway leaves.” - -“But you did not come to these offices at five o’clock to-day, nor yet -as early as half-past five?” - -“True, sir. I had been asked to wait till six o’clock.” - -“Asked to wait till six? By whom?” - -“By Miss Langdon, God rest her soul!” - -“Did she say why she wanted you to wait?” - -“She said she would be busy till that time.” - -Nick’s mind instantly reverted to the type-written message which had -summoned him to the place of the tragedy. - -“Besides sir,” continued the janitor, “Mr. Redway did not leave at five -o’clock as usual.” - -“How do you know that?” - -“I saw him go downstairs five minutes after the elevator stopped, and it -stopped at five o’clock.” - -“This is important information. Did you see him come up again?” - -“No, sir; but somebody came up about five minutes after he went down, -for I heard the man’s steps. I was busy in an office two floors below, -however, and didn’t look out to see who it was.” - -“Were there any other persons in the building at that time?” - -“Only the three persons out there in that room. They occupy offices two -flights above, and are here every day till six o’clock.” - -“Did you hear a pistol shot?” - -“No, sir, I did not.” - -“Isn’t that strange?” - -“It does seem so, sir.” - -“Was there any unusual noise about the time the shot may have been -fired?” - -“Only once, sir.” - -“What was the noise?” - -“A wagon loaded with bar iron passed on the street below and made a -great clatter.” - -“About what time was that?” - -“Near five o’clock.” - -“Before or after Redway went downstairs?” - -“Just before, if I remember rightly.” - -Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Grote and Miss Lucas were then called in together and -questioned concerning what they knew of the affair. - -Neither had any knowledge which at first could throw light on the -subject in hand. - -They had been at work in their offices, two floors above, and neither -heard a pistol shot. - -“Do any of you remember the noise of a heavily loaded wagon which passed -through the street below about five o’clock?” inquired Nick. - -Mr. Grote remembered it distinctly, and for a good reason. - -When questioned for the reason, he replied that at the time Miss Lucas -was standing at the window looking down the street. He had called to -her, and the din was so great he was compelled to raise the pitch of his -voice and call three times before she heard him. - -Miss Lucas then remembered the circumstance, but was not aware of any -unusual noise at the time. There might have been such a noise, however, -but her attention was wholly engrossed just then by something else. - -“What was it that interested you so much?” asked Nick. “Something you -saw in the street?” - -“No, something I saw in a window across the street.” - -“What did you see?” - -“A woman.” - -“Why did the woman prove so interesting?” - -“Because from her actions I thought she was watching something which was -going on in this building.” - -“Ah! now we are getting at something important. What made you believe -she was watching this building?” - -“Because when she first came to that window she looked out boldly, -fearlessly and carelessly; suddenly she drew back and hid her face -behind the edge of the window, seemingly on the watch and anxious not to -be noticed herself.” - -“Well?” - -“She sat thus probably five minutes. Then, springing to her feet, she -almost ran away from the window and disappeared.” - -“What window was it through which she looked?” - -Miss Lucas pointed directly across the street and answered: - -“That one.” - -She had designated the window which Nick had previously noticed to be on -a line with the open window of Redway’s private office and the desk of -the dead girl. - -Miss Lucas supplemented her information by saying: - -“Our offices are directly above these, and I was looking down at the -woman--or rather at the place from which she had disappeared a minute -before when Mr. Grote called me.” - -“Could you see the woman’s features?” - -“Distinctly when she first came to the window.” - -“Had you ever seen her before?” - -“Only once.” - -“When?” - -“To-day--this afternoon as I was going out to lunch.” - -“Where was she?” - -“She got into the elevator as I got out.” - -“What time was that?” - -“About half-past two o’clock.” - -Nick had no doubt that the woman at the window was Redway’s mysterious -visitor. - -Mr. Kennedy and Miss Lucas were dismissed with a caution to repeat none -of their information to any one else. - -Nick requested Mr. Grote to remain a few minutes. - -After Kennedy and the typewriter had gone back to the private office -Nick whispered to the coroner: - -“Make a pretense of trying to get some further information from Grote, -just to keep up the hum of conversation, while I take a look in the -private office of Mr. Byke.” - -So, while the coroner engaged Mr. Grote in further conversation, Nick -silently used his pick-lock, entered the private office of Mr. Byke and -remained for nearly ten minutes. - -When he returned to Redway’s office he locked the communicating door -behind him, and then said: - -“Mr. Grote, as a representative of Superintendent Byrnes, I ask you to -mention to no one the fact that you saw me enter that room just now. It -may be of great concern to innocent parties who are in danger at this -time that my visit to Mr. Byke’s office shall not be known to any one -save our three selves for the present.” - -“You can rely on me, sir, to be mum on the subject.” - -“Thank you, and that is all.” - -Nick himself accompanied Mr. Grote to the large office, and, addressing -the two policemen, said: - -“Mr. McCarthy, all these good people, except Mr. Redway, of whom we wish -to ask a few more questions, may go. Mr. Brown, you will see that they -have free access to their offices or the street.” - -Then, turning to Redway, the detective said: - -“I would like to get a little more information from you, Mr. Redway. -Will you be so kind as to step back into your office with me once more?” - -“Nobody could refuse a gentleman so polite as you,” was the sarcastic -reply. - -Once inside, and the door locked, Nick proceeded without delay to his -task. - -“Mr. Redway, you told me that you had been on the street, and when you -came back you found Miss Langdon dead.” - -“You have stated the case correctly, sir.” - -“What time was it when you left Miss Langdon here alive and went down to -the street?” - -“I cannot give you the exact time.” - -“Was it before or after five?” - -“Before.” - -“How do you know?” - -“Because I rode down in the elevator, and the elevator boy never makes a -trip after five o’clock.” - -“You are sure you rode down in the elevator?” - -“Why, certainly I am.” - -“Do you know where the elevator boy lives?” - -“No, but the janitor can tell you. He has his address.” - -The response was so feebly made that Nick was somewhat puzzled. - -“Where was your office boy when you went out?” - -“I had just sent him to the jeweler’s with my watch.” - -“How long before?” - -“Only a few minutes.” - -“How long did you remain on the street?” - -“Ten or fifteen minutes, probably.” - -“Why did you come up, go down and return the second time?” - -“What do you mean?” - -“Well, you say you rode down in the elevator a little before five and -came back ten or fifteen minutes later. Why did you go down almost -directly afterward and return the second time?” - -“I did not.” - -“But the janitor saw you going down the stairs about a quarter past -five.” - -“I beg the janitor’s pardon, but he saw nothing of the kind.” - -“You deny, then, that you walked downstairs about that time?” - -“Most emphatically. I have not walked downstairs in this building -to-day.” - -“When you were coming up did you have occasion to retrace your steps for -a short distance?” - -“No, sir.” - -“You came straight up without turning back once?” - -“Yes.” - -“Is the janitor a truthful man?” - -“So far as I know, he is.” - -“If he declares, then, that he saw you go down the stairs at ten or -fifteen minutes after five, or at any time after five o’clock, what -would you say?” - -“That he either lied or was mistaken.” - -“Now, Mr. Redway, you refused to tell me why you went to the street on -that last trip down and where you were. Do you still refuse to answer?” - -“I do.” - -“A lady visited you in this office this afternoon.” - -Redway’s face flushed and then grew pale. A cold, desperate gleam came -into his gray eyes and his lips closed tightly. - -“Do you deny that, too?” asked Nick, after Redway showed no intention of -replying to the statement of fact. - -“I do not.” - -“Who was she?” - -“That I refuse to tell.” - -“And the nature of her business here?” - -“Is my affair solely--and hers.” - -“Are you sure it was not also Miss Langdon’s affair?” - -“Quite sure.” - -“After she went away you and Miss Langdon had a quarrel?” - -“No, sir, we had not.” - -“But Miss Langdon’s voice was heard in a highly pitched and exciting key -talking to you in here?” - -“Miss Langdon was mistress of her own voice. I repeat, we had no -quarrel.” - -“What was she saying to you while she was so excited?” - -“I surely cannot tell you.” - -“Why?” - -“It concerned only herself, and she is dead. Her affairs are sacred so -far as I am concerned.” - -“You left the building with your lady visitor?” - -“Yes.” - -“Where did you take her?” - -“To the elevated railroad station.” - -“Where does she live?” - -“You will have to get that information from her.” - -“Have you seen the lady since you left her at the elevated railroad -station?” - -“Mr. Carter, there is no use in your asking me any further questions or -of my answering any more.” - -“Then I presume, Mr. Redway, you are lawyer enough to understand your -position,” remarked Nick. - -“Oh, yes! I must submit to arrest on suspicion. But I have no fears. -There is nothing in the case to fix the crime on me.” - -“Do you know how Miss Langdon died?” - -“I believe you asked me that question before, and I answered it. I do -not.” - -“Then, till we find out, you will have to submit to detention.” - -“Imprisoned, you mean. Well, I am ready.” - -Nick, accompanied by Officer Brown, took Redway to the nearest police -justice, where a commitment was sworn out, and Redway was lodged in the -Tombs. - -Before he left the Borden Building, however, Nick questioned the janitor -again about the person who went down the stairs shortly after five -o’clock. - -“Are you positive it was Mr. Redway?” - -“Sure as I live I am.” - -“No mistaking some one else for him?” - -“How could I? There’s no one else wears such a sky-blue suit, such a -straw hat with a black band or has such a long blonde mustache.” - -When Nick heard this answer, calling up Redway’s peculiar dress and -appearance, he couldn’t doubt the janitor’s word. Then he got the -address of the elevator boy, and turned the case over to the coroner -with this personal request: - -“Postpone your inquest from day to day, until I have had a little more -time to look into this affair.” - -Redway once safely in the Tombs, Nick went straight to the home of the -elevator boy. He found the lad at supper, and knew the news of the -tragedy in the Borden Building could not yet have reached him. - -“I am trying to find Mr. Redway,” explained Nick, “and I thought you -might tell me where he is.” - -“Why, he has rooms somewhere on Fifty-fifth street, I believe. Did you -look in the directory?” - -“Yes! He isn’t there. Was he in the office to-day?” - -“Sure!” - -“You saw him?” - -“Why, yes, several times. He rode up and down with me.” - -“How many times?” - -“Oh, four or five, maybe!” - -“Was any one with him on any of the trips?” - -“There was a stunning-looking young lady with him once when he went -down.” - -“Was that the last time he went down?” - -“No, he came back half an hour later and went down with me on my last -trip at just five o’clock.” - -This information confirmed Redway’s statement, and was a puzzler for -Nick. He had reason now to know that if the janitor was correct in his -testimony Redway must have come up almost immediately by the stairs, -gone down the second time by the same way and returned a second time by -the stairs. - -The case had a very puzzling complexion at this particular place. - -“When did you see Mr. Gay last?” asked Nick. - -“Mr. Gay left the office about eleven o’clock and didn’t come back any -more.” - -“Did anybody inquire of you during the day for the offices of Bridgely & -Byke?” - -Nick expected the boy to say that the strange lady did. The reply was -rather disappointing. - -“Only one old fellow--an old man who rode up about half-past two or -three o’clock.” - -“How long did he stay?” - -“I don’t know. He didn’t go down with me. Guess he must have walked.” - -“Half-past two or three o’clock,” said Nick to himself. “The office boy -told me that several parties came in while the strange woman was -closeted with Redway and that he sent them all away. This old man was -one of them, I suppose.” - -Then, for the time being, Nick dismissed all thoughts of the old man -from his mind. But the existence of that personage was destined soon to -be recollected with startling force. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -NICK AND CHICK IN CONFERENCE. - - -The great detective’s next move was to go straight home and summon his -right-hand man, Chick, for a conference. - -Without a waste of words or time he put his assistant in possession of -all the facts of the case up to that minute. - -When he finally ended the details with an account of his visit to the -elevator boy he threw himself back in his chair and gave Chick a look -which meant: - -“That is all. What do you think of it?” - -The latter returned his chief’s stare for a full minute; then he uttered -the single word: - -“Well?” - -Nick echoed the monosyllable: - -“Well?” - -“I guess you have a pretty deep case on your hands,” smiled Chick. “But -I’ll wager my watch against your toothpick on one point.” - -“Which is?” - -“That though you’ve locked Redway up in the Tombs you don’t believe he -killed the girl.” - -“You would win the toothpick if I took your bet. Still, I might be -mistaken.” - -“I don’t believe you are, and I shouldn’t be surprised if you had some -testimony back of all that which you have revealed which puts this -Redway in a better light than ever.” - -“Chick, you are a good pupil; I’m proud of you.” - -“Thanks. I will go further, and say that I believe you think Redway -knows who killed the girl, or how she died, and that he is shielding -somebody.” - -“You must have learned mind-reading with your other accomplishments,” -smiled Nick. “Maybe you can tell me who it is that he is trying to -shield?” - -“Not unless it be the strange woman.” - -“Humph! We must find that woman and learn more about her,” was the -non-committal reply. “Chick, there is another character I want watched, -and you’re the very one to do it.” - -“Who?” - -“The confidential clerk--Gay.” - -“Oh, ho!” - -“I don’t like him. Besides, there is a mystery about him.” - -“Well?” - -“He was absent from the building most of the day, but he managed to be -in at the death.” - -“Did you ask him what had brought him back at that particular time?” - -“No.” - -“Why?” - -“It would have told him that he was under suspicion. Best to have him -off his guard.” - -“You have other evidence to involve him?” - -“Yes.” - -“I thought so. What is it?” - -“I told you about my quick, hurried secret visit to the office of the -senior member of the firm?” - -“Yes. What did you discover in there?” - -“Not much, and yet a good deal. There was a mirror so fixed near the -ceiling that a person standing or sitting near the connecting door could -see reflected everything which went on in the other room where the -tragedy occurred.” - -“And, as the transom above the door was open, could hear as well?” - -“Yes.” - -“I see. That office was supposed to be deserted all the afternoon?” - -“Correct.” - -“Yet some one was concealed in there, and heard and saw all that was -said and done in Redway’s office?” - -“I believe so. Whoever it was, he or she made a mistake.” - -“By forgetting to remove the mirror?” - -“Exactly. And unless I am much mistaken that mirror will trap the person -we want.” - -“How?” - -“If it disappears from its place high up there on the wall before -to-morrow--and I think it will.” - -“I see, I see. You have arranged to find out who goes into that office?” - -“Yes. The janitor will keep me posted.” - -“Can you trust him?” - -“I think so.” - -“But how about his seeing Redway go downstairs at the time he says he -did?” - -“I believe he saw some one go down at that time.” - -“Who? Redway?” - -“That I am not ready to answer. It is one of the knotty places in the -mystery.” - -“Nick, who wrote that note to you?” - -“I have no doubt it was the girl who was killed.” - -“What was her object?” - -“She had serious work for a detective, or she would not have sent for -me. The girl wrote another note on her typewriter to-day besides the one -sent to me.” - -“To whom?” - -“I don’t know; it is not addressed. I’ll show it to you.” - -Nick produced the dead girl’s pocketbook, from which he took a -typewritten slip, on which was this message: - -“You failed to keep your engagement last night. I’ll give you just one -more chance. Meet me to-night at the same place, 8:30 sharp, and be -ready to come to some definite understanding with me. If you fail me -this time I will consider myself absolved from my oath.” - -“Nick, this is the key to the whole tragedy.” - -“I think so, too.” - -“The note was never delivered.” - -“Certainly not.” - -“Why?” - -“For want of an opportunity--that’s clear.” - -“She may have backed down after writing it.” - -“You believe the note was intended for Gay, and that he gave her the -slip to-day before she had a chance to get it to him?” - -“Right you are, lad.” - -“Did he go away from the office suddenly, without telling any one?” - -“Yes, except the office boy, whom he told just as he went out, leaving -word for Redway that he would not be back during the day. Of course, -Miss Langdon got the message indirectly.” - -“Well, what else?” - -“This.” - -Nick produced Redway’s watch and opened the back of the case. When he -turned the inside toward Chick the latter looked upon the portrait of a -lovely little girl of six or seven years of age. - -“Who is she?” asked Nick, as he gazed admiringly at the beautiful face. - -“That we must find out.” - -“Does she look like Redway?” - -“No. She has none of his features that I can see. Yet I believe it will -be found that the child plays a prominent part in the tragedy by some -indirect method.” - -“Why do you think so?” - -“Because there is a slight resemblance between her face and the face of -the girl who was killed.” - -“Ah! that makes the child an important character in the case. What is -your next move, Nick?” - -“There is no next move. It must be a series of moves in which I need -your help and the aid of Ida.” - -“Well, map out your business.” - -“First, I want to find the mysterious woman. - -“Secondly, I want to find that little girl. - -“Thirdly, I want to discover where Estelle Langdon went last night--in -order to discover her place of meeting with the party to whom she -addressed that note. - -“Fourthly, I want Gay shadowed.” - -“Well, which part of the job is mine?” - -“I’m going to turn Gay over to you.” - -“All right. Gay’s my meat.” - -“I’ll look up the handsome, mysterious woman myself.” - -“And Ida?” - -“I’ll send Ida to the home of the dead girl to get information there.” - -“Perhaps you can give me an idea where I’ll find Gay?” - -“I think I can. Go down to the Borden Building, and wait till he comes -there.” - -“To-night?” - -“Certainly! He’ll wait till some of the excitement dies out in that -vicinity. Then he’ll visit that private office, or I am greatly -mistaken.” - -Ida was brought into the case at this stage and instructed in the part -she was expected to play. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -NICK BEGINS TO SOLVE THE RIDDLE. - - -Having partaken of a hasty supper, and having changed his disguise, Nick -went downtown again to the neighborhood of the tragedy. - -He did not go to the Borden Building this time, but to that one across -the street, in which was the office out of whose window he was convinced -the strange woman had seen the tragedy as it occurred in the office of -Bridgely & Byke. - -The building was locked up for the night, but Nick had no trouble in -finding the janitor, who lived in one of the upper rooms, but who at -that hour was on the street discussing with his acquaintances the -tragedy of the Borden Building. - -Oh, yes! He--the janitor--knew whose offices were exactly opposite -Bridgely & Byke’s--they belonged to Lawyer John Woodford. - -With Lawyer John Woodford’s address in his possession, obtained from the -directory, Nick started uptown in search of him. - -He found the lawyer at home, and was pleasantly received. - -Nick inquired about a lady, whom he believed had been in Mr. Woodford’s -office that afternoon about five o’clock, but of whom he had lost all -trace soon after. - -Yes, Mr. Woodford admitted that a woman had called to see him about that -hour. He was out at the time, and his office boy asked her to sit down -and wait. - -She did wait for a little while, when, without saying a word, she passed -hastily out of the office, almost running as she went. - -He had come in a few minutes later when the boy related the circumstance -to him. - -He had no means of knowing whether he had ever seen the lady or not, or -of knowing who she was. She left no name; indeed, left nothing to -identify her but a glove. - -Here the lawyer pulled a lady’s kid glove from his pocket and held it up -before Nick’s eyes. - -“She left this behind in her unceremonious departure,” the lawyer said. - -Nick recognized it at once as the mate to the glove which was found -partly on the hand of the dead girl. - -With some reluctance, and apparent misgivings as to the policy, Lawyer -Woodford permitted Nick to take the glove away with him. - -As the detective was about to leave, Woodford seemed to recollect -something, and said: - -“Oh, by the way, perhaps I know who can tell you more about that lady!” - -“Indeed?” - -“Yes. My boy told me that she had scarcely disappeared down the -stairs--she didn’t wait for the elevator--when Mr. Redway, of the firm -of Bridgely & Byke, stepped off the elevator, and inquired for the lady. -He seemed much disappointed when told she was gone.” - -This was intensely interesting news to Nick. - -“Did Redway follow her?” inquired Nick. - -“Why, no. The stupid boy did not tell him she walked or ran downstairs, -else he might have followed her. Do you know, I think she was trying to -avoid Redway. I’d advise you to see Redway.” - -Again Nick examined the directory. This time he looked for the name -“Oscar Gay,” but didn’t find it. The name was not in the New York -Directory for the current year. - -He then turned to the Brooklyn Directory, and found the name, with the -address, on Brooklyn Heights. - -It didn’t take him long to go over to the place, which he found was a -middle-class boarding-house. - -The landlady informed him that Gay had not been a boarder with her for -ten months. - -He went to New York somewhere, but she never learned exactly where. - -“Was there any reason for his leaving?” asked the detective. - -“None that I’m sure of. There was a young lady boarding here at the same -time, and we thought they were rather sweet on each other. She left, -too, a few days after him, and I haven’t heard a word of either since.” - -“What was the young woman’s name?” - -“Let’s see: she was a typewriter, and her name was--was--was -Langdon--Estelle Langdon.” - -Though Nick had not discovered Gay’s address by his trip to Brooklyn, he -had obtained information that was almost equally as valuable, and he -went back to New York very much elated. - -He returned to his house to meet with a surprise, which was almost -dumfounding. - -As he entered, his servant said a lady was waiting to see him in the -library. - -He proceeded straightway to receive his visitor. - -She sat in the gloom as Nick entered, and it was not till he had turned -up the light that the surprise came. - -Even then it required ten or fifteen seconds for him to arrive at his -startling discovery. - -The moment his eyes fell upon the face of the woman before him a -conviction forced itself upon him that he had seen her before. - -Then came the more forcible conviction that it was a striking -resemblance and not a recollection of features. - -Her face had almost a counterpart in a younger, smaller countenance on -which he had recently looked. - -It was a twin picture to the portrait of the child in the back of -Redway’s watch--was the face of the woman before him. - -Instantly Nick knew that he was in the presence of Redway’s mysterious -visitor of the afternoon. - -What good luck had sent her to him? - -“You have been waiting to see me?” said Nick, inquiringly. - -“If you are the detective, Nick Carter, I have,” was her reply, as she -looked intently into his face. - -“Well, I am Nick Carter, at your service.” - -“I have heard of your great professional skill, sir, and have come to -seek your help in a case that to me has recently become more than a -matter of life and death. I am rich, and can pay you well for your -services.” - -“What is the nature of these services?” - -“To find my child.” - -“I thought so,” was Nick’s mental response. - -“Boy or girl?” he asked. - -“A girl.” - -“How old?” - -“Nearly seven years old.” - -“Are you a widow?” - -“No, sir,” with a flush. “My husband is alive.” - -“But you don’t live with him?” - -“I do not. We have not lived together for five years.” - -“And he has your child hidden away?” - -“Yes.” - -“What is your name?” - -“Evelyn Lock.” - -“Have you a picture of the little girl?” - -“No, sir. I haven’t seen her since she was less than two years old.” - -The tears came into her eyes, and a sob broke from her lips as she said -it. - -“Why have you not searched for the child before?” - -“I have, but it was only within the last day or two that I have been -able to locate her--abductor.” - -“Her father, you mean?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“You are not a resident of New York?” - -“No. I am an Englishwoman. My home is Birmingham. The last five years I -have searched the world over with no success, till, by accident, I found -the child’s father here in New York to-day.” - -“He knows you are here?” - -“Yes,” reluctantly. - -“Is a reconciliation with him impossible?” - -“It is--now.” - -Nick began to fear that he understood the meaning of that last word, -“now.” - -“You say ‘now.’ Were you willing to be reconciled until recently?” - -“Yes; I loved him dearly--never ceased to love him in spite of the fact -that he robbed me of my child, for I know he was cruelly deceived about -me, and had I been guilty of all which he had cause to believe me guilty -of, I would have deserved to lose him, and my child, too.” - -“Why do you say that a reconciliation now is impossible?” - -“I cannot tell you that.” - -“Is the cause on your side or his?” - -“On his.” - -Nick concluded he would now force the situation. - -“You say you do not know how your little girl looks now?” - -“Yes, sir. Remember, I have not seen her for five years.” - -“Then I’ll let you see what she looks like.” - -As Nick spoke he took Redway’s watch from his pocket, opened the back of -the case, and presented to the astonished young woman the portrait of -the sweet face set therein. - -At first she could only gaze at it in utter stupefaction. - -Then, realizing what it meant, she gave a great cry, pressed -the portrait to her lips again and again, and ended all -by--woman-like--fainting. - -Nick caught her just in time to save the watch from slipping from her -grasp. His experience with fainting women was large and varied. The -means of resuscitation were near at hand, and he soon had his fair -visitor back to consciousness. - -Her first question was: - -“Where did you get it?” - -“The watch?” - -“Yes, yes!” - -“Indirectly from its owner.” - -“From--from----” - -“From Victor Redway. He is your husband, and the father of the missing -child.” - -The woman bent her head in silent assent. - -“Is Victor Redway his real name?” - -“Part of it. The full name is Victor Redway Lock.” - -“Oh, yes--your married name. What is the little girl’s name.” - -“Estelle Langdon Lock.” - -It was one of those periods in Nick Carter’s life when sudden surprise -nearly struck him dumb. - -What did it mean? This woman’s little girl and the concealed child of -Redway bearing the name of the girl who had so mysteriously met her -death that afternoon. - -As soon as Nick had time to pull his wits together, he inquired: - -“After whom was the child named?” - -“After my aunt--my mother’s only sister.” - -“Where is she now?” - -“She has been dead some six years. She died broken-hearted. Her life and -mine were most wretchedly alike.” - -“How so?” - -“Her husband deserted her, taking their only child, a girl, away with -him.” - -“Where did they go?” - -“I don’t know. They disappeared, were never heard of again, and I -suppose both are dead.” - -“Why did the girl go with the father and desert the mother?” - -“She was her father’s idol, and he hers. She took his side of the -quarrel.” - -“What was her name?” - -“Same as her mother--Estelle. But what has all this to do with my -child?” - -“More, much more, than you suspect, madame,” replied Nick, firmly. - -“In what way--explain?” - -“Presently. You recognize the portrait of your child in that watch?” - -“Oh, yes! May I keep the watch?” - -“If you answer me truly two questions.” - -“Ask them.” - -Nick produced the glove which had been taken from the dead girl’s hand, -and held it up before her. - -“Is this your glove?” - -She turned pale, but answered firmly and promptly: - -“It is. Where----” - -“And this one, too?” - -“Yes, sir; that, too. Where did you get them?” - -“This one,” designating the first one, “was found in the private office -of Victor Redway this evening. - -“This one,” elevating the other glove, “was dropped in the law office of -John Woodford, just across the street from Redway’s office.” - -The woman had turned deadly pale, and Nick thought once she would faint -again. So he gave her time to rally, which she did quite bravely. Then -he went on: - -“When you dropped the last glove in Woodford’s office you were sitting -at his window watching a scene going on in Redway’s office, just across -the street. - -“In that scene a girl in Redway’s office was trying to get this other -glove, the mate, on her left hand.” - -Nick paused long enough to make his recital the more dramatic. - -“While she was thus engaged, and while you were watching her, somebody -killed her, shot her--murdered her in cowardly, cold blood.” - -Mrs. Lock sat as if chiseled from stone. If she had the power of speech, -she made no attempt to use it. So Nick concluded the dramatic -situation. - -“You do not know who that girl was, but I believe you do know who fired -the shot which deprived her of life. - -“Now, I am going to tell you who the victim was, and then I’ll ask you -to tell me who was the assassin. - -“You did not recognize the girl, I suppose?” - -A negative shake of the head was the only response. - -“But you begin to suspect.” - -“Ah, my God!” came the response, in a whispering gasp. - -“The girl whom you saw murdered was our cousin, Estelle Langdon. Now, -who was it that fired the shot?” - -The answer came almost as Nick expected. - -For the second time Mrs. Lock lost consciousness. She had fainted again. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -A HUSBAND’S LOVE. - - -When Mrs. Lock had once more regained consciousness, Nick gave her a -stimulant, and let her have plenty of time to come into full possession -of her reasoning faculties before he pressed her further about what she -had seen from Lawyer Woodford’s window. - -When he did resume the subject, it was by saying: - -“Take time to think the situation over seriously, Mrs. Lock, and then -give me your answer.” - -“I can give you your answer now,” she replied, in a voice which was weak -and trembling. “All the answer I have to give?” - -“By telling me what you saw from Lawyer Woodford’s window.” - -“I do not admit that I saw anything from Lawyer Woodford’s window.” - -“But you saw something. You were there when the shot was fired which -killed your cousin. You are probably the only living witness who saw -the deed done.” - -“Ah! And yet you expect me to admit it, and tell what I am supposed to -have seen?” - -“Yes.” - -“And why do you think I would do so, if it was as you suppose?” - -“Not if it was as I suppose, but as I know. I’ll tell you why I not only -think but feel sure you’ll conceal nothing from me.” - -“Well?” - -“Because you’ll do anything to save your husband.” - -“To _save_ him?” - -The emphasis which she put on the word “save” was a full confession to -the astute detective. She realized it almost as soon as the three words -were uttered. - -But Nick’s next sentence somewhat relieved her mind, as well as -mystified her. - -“You think you saw him kill Estelle Langdon?” - -“I _think_ I saw him. Why----” - -Again an accented word had made a confession, and she once more halted -in confusion. - -“I am anxious to get at the bottom of a conspiracy of some kind, and I -can do it by having the benefit of your statement of just what happened -in that room as you saw it from across the street.” - -“Mr. Carter, you say this to trap me.” - -“As Heaven is my judge, Mrs. Lock, I do not.” - -“You believe my husband is innocent of that crime?” - -“I am sure of it, but circumstances are against him now.” - -“They say, Mr. Carter, that you are the soul of honor.” - -“If I have that reputation it is earned, and you may rely on it that I -will not sacrifice it at your expense, Mrs. Lock.” - -“It seems almost inexplicable to me, but something prompts me to trust -you.” - -“I do not believe you will ever regret it, if you do.” - -“I’ll do it,” with a great sigh, as if of relief. “Yet the first -statement I make must seem like sending the man I love to his death.” - -“You believe you saw your husband fire the shot that killed Estelle -Langdon?” - -“Yes.” - -“There was nothing to obstruct your view?” - -“No--nothing.” - -“You were seen to draw back from the window and partly conceal yourself. -Why did you do that?” - -“Because I supposed I had been seen by Victor, and it was what I wanted -to avoid.” - -“Ah, ha! Now, we are getting onto interesting ground. You did not go to -Woodford’s office, then, for the purpose of spying upon your husband?” - -“Surely not. I did not know Woodford’s window commanded a view of -Victor’s office until I saw him come into the room where the girl sat.” - -“Why did you go to Woodford’s?” - -“To ask his advice and aid.” - -“In what?” - -“In an attempt at reconciliation with my husband, or to gain possession -of my little girl. I thought I had made some progress in my interview -with Victor, and I sorely needed advice.” - -“How did it happen you went to Woodford?” - -“I met him at Newport. When he heard I was practically friendless in -America, he gave me his office card and gallantly offered to assist me, -if I ever needed his aid. I had the card with me, and went to the -address.” - -“Redway says he saw you as far as the elevated station?” - -“So he did, but I left the station without taking the train and went to -hunt up Mr. Woodford.” - -“Had you no other friend to whom you could go for advice and aid--one -you knew better?” - -“One I knew better? Yes. But not one whom I thought I could trust, -especially in this particular case.” - -“Why not in this particular case?” - -Mrs. Lock showed a little confusion, while she frankly replied: - -“Because the gentleman to whom I had become somewhat attached in a -friendly way, and to whom I gave my confidence, has lately shown a -disposition too much like that of a lover; indeed, he has gone to such -an extent as to propose divorce and then marriage.” - -“That is quite interesting.” - -“He has even tempted me with the promise to find and restore to me my -child, if I would reward him by eloping with him to some European -country.” - -Nick was becoming intensely interested. - -“Of course I could not go to him for advice or aid in the case as you -understand it, Mr. Carter.” - -“Of course not, Mrs. Lock. What is this--er--gentleman’s name?” - -“Oscar Gay.” - -It required all of the great detective’s powers of control to conceal -from Mrs. Lock the intense satisfaction which the information gave him. - -“How did you come to know this Gay?” - -“We board at the same place on West Forty-sixth street.” - -“What is his business?” - -“He’s a lawyer.” - -“Where is his office?” - -“That I don’t know.” - -“Of course not,” muttered Nick. - -“Now, then, Mrs. Lock, you thought you saw your husband shoot that -girl?” - -“God help me! Yes.” - -“Describe exactly what you saw.” - -“When I first went to the window, and sat down in plain view, I did not -notice the office on the opposite side of the street. - -“The boy said Mr. Woodford would not be gone ten minutes, and I looked -at my watch to see whether he told the truth.” - -“Good!” exclaimed Nick. “What time was it?” - -“Three minutes to five o’clock.” - -“Well?” - -“As I put my watch away, I looked across the street into the opposite -window.” - -“What did you see?” - -“My husband and a girl, seemingly in some controversy. At that moment -Victor looked across and saw me. - -“That was when I drew back into partial concealment. - -“Almost immediately afterward Victor crossed the room, and left by an -opposite door. The girl sat down in a chair by a desk, and began to put -on a glove. - -“Scarcely two minutes had passed, when, to my surprise, I saw my husband -walk back into the office from the opposite door. - -“He came straight over toward the window, and seemed to be looking -across at my window just for a moment. - -“For an instant he disappeared from my view. In a few moments he came -directly in front of the window. I saw he had a pistol in his hand. - -“The girl was still busy with the glove. Without warning, he took -deliberate aim, and fired. The girl fell back in the chair, and her head -dropped forward on her chest.” - -“And he?” - -“Why, he seemed to glance over toward my window, presenting his full -face. Then he disappeared on the side of the window whence he came when -he produced the pistol. - -“Almost directly after, he crossed the room once more, and again -disappeared through the door by which he had entered. - -“Then I rushed out of Mr. Woodford’s office. - -“In my dire distress and anxiety to get my child away from him I came to -you, having heard that you scarcely ever failed in work intrusted to -your care.” - -“Well, you did the best thing you ever did in your life, Mrs. Lock, when -you came to me.” - -“Why?” - -“Because you’ll save your husband’s honor, if not his life, and I think -will regain not only your child, but his love also.” - -“My God! Do not taunt me!” - -“I speak the truth, Mrs. Lock. The man whom you saw commit the crime was -not your husband.” - -“Not my husband? Why, the clothes--that long, blonde mustache--the -light, long hair--surely----” - -“The clothes were a duplicate suit. The hair and mustache were false. -The assassin was a well-arranged double of your husband, who took pains -that you should see the deed done. - -“There was a screen setting close by the window which could easily have -been pushed across to shut off your view. But it wasn’t.” - -“Why are you so sure it was a double--a disguised man who did the deed?” - -“First, because the proof is clear that the crime was done with a full -knowledge by the murderer that you saw it, and with due care that you -should see it.” - -“Well?” - -“Your husband, if capable of murder, would surely not have an object in -doing it before your eyes, but on the contrary. - -“Then you saw your husband leave the room at about two minutes before -five?” - -“Yes.” - -“I have the testimony of the elevator-boy that he went right to the -elevator, and descended to the street.” - -“Go on, please.” - -“It would take him some time to go around to the building in which -Woodford’s offices are situated, probably five minutes.” - -“Go on--go on!” - -“He did go around, however, for Mr. Woodford said his boy told him that -Redway came to the door and inquired for you almost before you had been -gone ten seconds. You did not leave by the elevator?” - -“No. I was so excited I rushed down the stairs.” - -“And he stepped out of the elevator while you were on the stairs going -down.” - -“Good Heaven!” - -“So, you see, your husband can prove a perfect alibi. The deed was done -while he was going from his office to Woodford’s.” - -“Has he furnished you with this proof?” - -“No; he has gone to jail without a word of defense. When he returned, he -found the girl dead. - -“He then placed her body on the desk, with one arm near her head, and -the other hanging by her side. Under this hand he placed his pistol.” - -“How do you know?” - -“Because you say the assassin left the body leaning back in the chair. -It was found in a different position. - -“Because, according to your testimony, the assassin got the pistol from -the desk where Redway kept it, and put it back there when he had -finished his work.” - -“Why did Victor arrange the position of the body that way, and place the -pistol under the hand?” - -“To suggest suicide, and to shield the assassin. When the suicide theory -would not hold, he was willing to be thought guilty rather than say a -word to throw suspicion on the person he firmly believes killed Estelle -Langdon.” - -“What person?” - -“You. He believes you shot her from your position across the street and -fled. The position of the body, and the wound, certainly gave that -impression; for who could believe that the assassin would take a -position in front of a public window to fire the shot?” - -“And he did this--for me?” - -“Can a man prove his love more completely?” - -Mrs. Lock let her face fall into her hands, while the hot tears trickled -from between her fingers, and she sobbed: - -“Oh, Victor, Victor!” - -Nick let her alone in her weeping. - -When she finally dried her eyes and looked up, he asked: - -“Have you--do you own a pistol, Mrs. Lock?” - -“Yes.” - -“And had it with you this afternoon?” - -“Yes. How did you know?” - -“Shrewdly guessed it. Redway knew you had it?” - -“He did?” - -Mrs. Lock’s face flushed, and Nick did not ask her to tell him how -Redway knew it. - -He took Redway’s pistol from his pocket, and showed it to her. - -“Is your pistol like this?” - -“It is a duplicate. Victor bought the two at the same time. Mine has his -initials on it, and his has mine.” - -“Then he thought there would be no danger of the bullet and his pistol -not corresponding,” smiled Nick. - -“Who could the disguised assassin have been?” - -“Can’t you guess?” - -“I guess? Why, who do I know--surely not----” - -“Yes. Oscar Gay.” - -“Merciful Heaven! What was his object?” - -“First, to get rid of a wife.” - -“A wife?” - -“He and your cousin, I think we’ll find, were privately married. By -fixing the crime on Redway, he would remove your husband. In that way he -expected to free himself and you, and make his marriage with you easy.” - -“But I never would have married him.” - -“Don’t be too sure.” - -“I didn’t love him.” - -“But you loved your child?” - -“Yes, yes!” - -“I am willing to risk my professional reputation on the guess that he -has the little girl’s whereabouts in his possession, and would have used -her to get your consent to become his wife.” - -Mrs. Lock shuddered. - -Just then a knock came to the door. The servant announced that Miss Ida -had returned and wished to report. - -“Admit her,” was Nick’s command. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -CHICK SUPPLIES THE FINAL PROOF. - - -Ida was introduced to Mrs. Lock, and then she proceeded to make her -report. - -She had visited the dead girl’s boarding-place in Harlem, where she -learned that Estelle was in the habit of spending the night elsewhere, -occasionally at the house of an aunt somewhere in the suburbs, it was -understood. - -She had gone away the night previous to remain with this aunt, but -returned unexpectedly quite late. She told her room-mate that her aunt -was not at home. - -For the first time Miss Langdon had a pistol in her possession with her -initials, “E. L.,” engraved on the handle. - -Her room-mate said Estelle explained that she bought the pistol to shoot -cats, which annoyed them, at nights, from the back yards. - -To prove her sincerity, she had gotten up in the night, and fired a shot -at a serenading feline. - -Ida’s report was not what Nick hoped it might be, but just as she went -out Chick came in, and he brought news that made Nick’s eyes glisten. - -“I’ve run down my man,” said Chick, in a tone of satisfaction, after -being introduced to Mrs. Lock and told by Nick to go ahead. - -“Let us hear about it,” urged Nick, eagerly. - -“Just as you thought he would, Gay returned to the Borden Building about -eight o’clock. - -“He went up to his office, and came down in disguise. - -“Had it been in day-time, I should never have thought the old chap was -Gay.” - -“The old chap?” - -“He was disguised as an old man.” - -Nick instantly recalled the circumstance of the old man who had inquired -of the elevator-boy for the offices of Bridgely & Byke. - -The detective had no doubt now that Gay had returned to the building in -that disguise, and got into Byke’s private office, where he had been -hidden all day, hearing and seeing that which went on in Redway’s -office. - -“I followed him to a room on the Bowery. He was in that room about -twenty minutes. When he came out, he was again in disguise, but the -nature of the masquerade this time made my task of identification easy.” - -“What was it this time?” - -“An almost perfect counterpart of Victor Redway as you described him to -me. - -“He had a cab waiting at the sidewalk. I suspected that the cab was -there for his use, and I had one ready to follow. He lost no time in -getting over to Brooklyn. I didn’t lose him _en route_. - -“He drove to a house on Atlantic avenue, and went in. When he came out, -he had a little girl with him whom he handed into the cab, got in after -her, and was driven away.” - -“A little girl!” gasped Mrs. Lock, with a hand pressed to her heart. - -“The original of the picture in Redway’s watch,” said Chick. - -“Oh, Heavens! My child--Estelle!” - -“Do not get excited, Mrs. Lock,” cautioned Nick. “The little girl will -not be harmed, and will be safely in your arms in good time.” - -“But, sir, she is in his hands--in the hands of a murderer.” - -“He will not harm a hair of her head. She is too important for the -successful carrying out of his plans.” - -“Well, disguised as Victor Redway, he had no trouble in getting the -little girl away from the people in whose charge her father had placed -her. - -“He had, evidently dogged Redway’s steps and thus found out the girl’s -hiding-place after you confided your story to him.” - -“What does he intend to do with her?” - -“Hide her away till Redway shall be out of his path. Then make her the -price of your marriage to him.” - -“I have the hiding-place located,” said Chick. - -“Where is it?” - -“On Ninth avenue, with Granny Grimes.” - -“Well, he has a seasoned old wretch for a jailer, that’s certain.” - -“Oh, what shall I do?” moaned Mrs. Lock. - -“Do? Why, you must not return to your boarding-house. Your change of -feeling toward Gay might arouse his suspicions.” - -“Then where shall I go?” - -“Suppose you stay here as the guest of Mrs. Carter till to-morrow -morning?” - -Mrs. Lock consented to Nick’s arrangements, and while Mrs. Carter and -Ida were making her as comfortable as possible Nick and Chick went out -on a little private business. - -At exactly midnight the Tombs received another prisoner. - -Oscar Gay, looking like a walking corpse, was led into the gloomy -prison, and securely locked into a cell in murderer’s row. - -Next morning he was found dead on his cot. - -No one will ever know where he had concealed the poison which ended his -miserable life; for Nick and Chick had searched him carefully before -they locked him up. - -When Redway was released, he made a full explanation. - -Nick’s deductions had been almost entirely correct. - -When Redway found the dead girl collapsed in her chair on his return -from the unsuccessful attempt to see his wife in Woodford’s office, he -became convinced that Evelyn had fired the deadly shot. - -The position of the body, and the nature of the wound, confirmed him in -his belief. - -He examined his pistol, which he found in the drawer where he had placed -it that morning when Miss Langdon returned it to him. She gave it to him -with one chamber empty, and he had found it with one chamber empty. So -he naturally concluded it had not been discharged since the night -before. - -He did not know that in his absence that forenoon Miss Langdon must have -put a cartridge in the empty cylinder. - -When Redway “planted” the pistol beneath the dead girl’s hand he -supposed the empty chamber was the same from which she had discharged -the shot at the cat. - -It turned out that Gay secured Miss Langdon her position with Bridgely & -Byke; also that Redway at once recognized her as his wife’s cousin, but -to keep his own identity a secret, did not let her know of his -relationship to her, after having tested her with a suppositional story -of a client, which was really his wife’s story. - -Miss Langdon had recognized her cousin when the latter left Redway’s -office that afternoon. For some reason she associated Mrs. Lock’s visit -with Gay, because she had heard her give Redway her address, which she -knew was Gay’s boarding-place. She was insanely jealous of Gay, and -suspected him of treachery. - -In that loud interview with Redway, after he returned from seeing Mrs. -Lock to the elevated station, Estelle admitted that she had borrowed his -pistol--which had formerly been a present from Redway to his wife, “E. -L.”--to kill Gay the night before, and then herself, if he refused to -absolve from her oath, not to betray their relationship by word or act -till he gave his consent. - -He had failed to meet her, however, at their secret tryst, and had -avoided her next day. - -Nick believes she had sent for him to have Gay’s footsteps dogged. - -Gay, in his concealment, heard her threats against his life, and also -overheard all that passed between Redway and Evelyn. He foresaw final -reconciliation between the couple, and knew that he could only win by -sudden and desperate steps. - -Fortune seemed to favor him. When he saw Mrs. Lock in the window -opposite, and heard Redway leave the office, his impulse carried him -away. In a flash he had assumed Redway’s disguise, slipped out into the -hall, and entered through the large office to Redway’s room, where he -coolly killed his victim before the eyes of the woman he was willing to -sell his soul to possess. - -Thence he walked downstairs, and went to his room on the Bowery, taking -many chances of meeting the real Redway on the way. - -In his Bowery den, he changed once more to his everyday stylish clothes, -and returned to the building to confront Redway. - -His original design in duplicating Redway’s clothes, and getting the -false wig and mustache which made him so true a double, must have been -to get possession of little Estelle in the manner which he so suddenly -put into practice. - -Victor Redway Lock and Evelyn Lock were restored to each other’s love -and confidence. - -Their lives were so thoroughly reunited that no more false reports of -malicious enemies can ever part them again. - -Chick found little Estelle unharmed in Granny Grimes’s miserable -lodgings, and placed the child in the arms of the mother she had almost -forgotten. - -The happy little family are living peacefully and quietly on their -lovely English estate. - -They never tire of talking about Nick Carter’s wonderful professional -skill in saving them from the almost successful plots of Oscar Gay. - - - THE END. - - - The next number of the NICK CARTER WEEKLY will contain “The Best - Detective in the Country; or, A Prompt Reply to a Telegram.” - - * * * * * - - - LATEST ISSUES. - - 187--The Best Detective in the Country; or, A Prompt Reply to a - Telegram. - - 186--Nick Carter Rescues a Daughter; or, The Junior Partner’s - Strange Behavior. - - 185--Nick Carter Saves a Reputation; or, A Button Worth a Fortune. - - 184--Shielding a Murderer; or, Nick Carter’s Dealings with an - Avenger. - - 183--Saved from the Penitentiary; or, Three Cheers for Nick Carter. - - 182--The Blood-Stained Check; or, Nick Carter in the - Dissecting-Room. - - 181--In the Clutch of the Law; or, Nick Carter’s Chain of Evidence. - - 180--The Government Custom’s Swindle; or, Nick Carter’s Work for - the U. 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Treasury. - - 179--Nick Carter’s Beautiful Decoy; or, The Diamond Duke of - Chicago. - - 178--Nick Carter Arrests a Client; or, The Body Found in the Flat. - - 177--Nick Carter’s Dumb Assistant; or, The Man with a Dead Brain. - - 176--Nick Carter Behind the Counter; or, A Peck of Pawn Tickets. - - 175--Nick Carter’s Pointer; or, A Hungry Dog’s Dinner. - - 174--By Whose Hand; or, Nick Carter Advertises for a Cab-Driver. - - 173--Caught in Six Hours; or, Trouble in Room No. 46. - - 172--Burglar Joe; or, Nick Carter’s Leap in the Dark. - - 171--Nick Carter’s Little Shadow; or, The Man with the Yellow Dog. - - 170--Caught by Electricity; or, Nick Carter Bags an Old Offender. - - 169--Unmasked by Nick Carter; or, An Attempt at Blackmail. - - 168--Nick Carter’s Second Sight; or, A Dumfounded Prisoner. - - 167--Nick Carter Makes a Loan That Brings Him Big Returns. - - 166--Nick Carter Prevents a Disturbance, and Loses a Disguise. - - 165--Nick Carter in a Hole; or, A Plan to Catch Him That Didn’t - Work. - - Back numbers always on hand. 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Rest assured he will reach fame and fortune on -the lightning express. The life of an ambitious railroad man is full of - exciting incident, and Tom has his full share of adventures. Through - all of these, he will be found _Wright_ by name, _right_ in word, - _right_ in deed, and _always right_. The many adventures of Tom and - his friends will be followed with the deepest interest by all who are - fortunate enough to read this new series of splendid stories. Tom is -surrounded by several “comrades,” who join hands with him and stand by - him in his various enterprises. MR. 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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: New Nick Carter weekly No. 186.</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>Nick Carter rescues a daughter; or The junior partner's strange behavior.</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Nick Carter</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Editor: Chickering Carter</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October 18, 2022 [eBook #69032]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: David Edwards and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Northern Illinois University Digital Library)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEW NICK CARTER WEEKLY NO. 186. ***</div> -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="c"> -<a href="images/cover.jpg"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" -height="550" alt="[The image of -the book's cover is unavailable.]" /></a> -</p> - -<table style="border: 2px black solid;margin:auto auto;max-width:50%; -padding:1%;"> -<tr><td> - -<p class="c">Contents:<br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_I">Chapter I.</a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_II"> II., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_III"> III., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IV"> IV., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_V"> V., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VI"> VI., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VII"> VI., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"> VII., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IX"> IX., </a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_X"> X.</a> -</p> -<p class="c">Some typographical errors have been corrected; -<a href="#transcrib">a list follows the text</a>.</p> -<p class="c">(etext transcriber's note)</p></td></tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page_1">{1}</a></span></p> - -<div class="blk"> -<h1><img src="images/nc.png" -width="450" -alt="NICK CARTER -WEEKLY." /></h1> - -<p class="c"><i>Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1900 by Street & Smith, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, -Washington, D. C.</i><br /><br /> -<i>Entered as second class Matter at the New York, N. Y., Post Office.</i><br /><br /> -<i>Issued weekly.</i> <span style="margin-left: 4em; -margin-right:4em;"><i>Subscription price, $2.50 per year.</i></span> July 21, 1900.</p> - -<hr /> -<p class="c">No. 186. <span class="smcap">Street & Smith</span>, Publishers. <span style="margin-left: 2em; -margin-right:2em;"> NEW YORK. </span> 238 William St., N. Y. 5 Cents.</p> - -<hr /> -</div> - -<p class="cbig250">Nick Carter Rescues a Daughter;</p> - -<p class="cb">OR,</p> - -<p class="cb">THE JUNIOR PARTNER’S STRANGE BEHAVIOR.<br /><br /> -————<br /> -By the Author of “NICK CARTER.”<br /> -———— -<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_2">{2}</a></span></p> - -<h2><a id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /><br /> -<small>THE DEAD GIRL.</small></h2> - -<p>Nick Carter glanced at his watch as he entered the street door of the -Borden Building, New York City.</p> - -<p>It was exactly half-past five o’clock in the afternoon.</p> - -<p>“I am just on time,” mused the great detective, as he hurried toward the -elevator.</p> - -<p>Neatly folded and stowed away in one of his inside pockets was a note, -which he had received by a messenger on the forenoon of that day. The -note, written on a typewriter, was not signed, and ran as follows:</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Nicholas Carter</span>, New York City. Dear Sir: Please call at room 59, -Borden Building, at half-past five o’clock this afternoon on important -business. Do not fail.”</p> - -<p>There was such an air of mystery about the message that Nick concluded -he would respond, and promptly to the minute he was at the place named -in the note.</p> - -<p>The Borden Building is one of those struc<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_3">{3}</a></span>tures in lower New York City -which are used almost exclusively as offices.</p> - -<p>It was Saturday afternoon, and when Nick found that the elevator was not -running he was not surprised.</p> - -<p>Evidently most of the offices in the building closed on Saturdays before -this late hour.</p> - -<p>A young man neatly, almost foppishly, dressed, had entered the building -ten seconds ahead of Nick and was near the first landing on the stairs -walking up when Nick placed his foot on the first step ready to follow.</p> - -<p>Just then there came ringing through the building the sound of the -footsteps of some one flying down the stairs in precipitate haste.</p> - -<p>Nick, by looking up, saw that the person making the furious descent was -a boy about fourteen years old.</p> - -<p>The well-dressed young man stopped when he heard the boy coming, and as -the latter reached him he grasped the lad by the coat, and brought him -up with a jerk.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_4">{4}</a></span></p> - -<p>“What in thunder ails you?” growled the young man.</p> - -<p>For a moment the boy could not utter a word. His face was white as -chalk, his teeth were chattering in his head, and he trembled so that it -seemed he must fall in a heap.</p> - -<p>The young man gave him a vigorous shake and cried:</p> - -<p>“Can’t you speak? What have you done? Where are you going?”</p> - -<p>Then the lad found power to chatter:</p> - -<p>“Oh-h, Mr. Ga-a-ay, she’s de-de-dead.”</p> - -<p>“She’s dead? Who’s dead, you fool?”</p> - -<p>“Mi-Miss Langdon,” gasped the lad.</p> - -<p>“Miss Langdon dead? Why, what do you mean? Speak!”</p> - -<p>“She’s been mu-mu-mur-dered.”</p> - -<p>“What! Where?”</p> - -<p>“Up there in the of-of-office.”</p> - -<p>“Are you telling me the truth?”</p> - -<p>“Indeed I am. Somebody sh-sh-shot her.”</p> - -<p>“Then go call the police, and be quick,” said the young man, as he let -go of the boy’s collar and hastened his ascent of the stairs.</p> - -<p>The lad continued his precipitous descent to the street, and Nick -followed the young man upward. He saw the latter stop on the fifth -floor, and disappear through an open door-way.</p> - -<p>When Nick reached the same place, he noted with much interest that the -No. 59 was painted on the door through which the other man had passed.</p> - -<p>Instantly he asked himself:</p> - -<p>“Has my mysterious note anything to do with what occurred beyond this -door?”</p> - -<p>Nick passed through the open door, and found himself inside a large -general office used by a law firm.</p> - -<p>The name of the firm was also on the door. It was:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="c"> -<span class="smcap">Bridgely & Byke</span>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Attorneys-at-Law.</span><br /> -</p> -</div> - -<p>At the other end of the room a door stood ajar, giving entrance to a -private office. Be<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_5">{5}</a></span>yond this door Nick heard high-pitched voices in -altercation.</p> - -<p>He rightly guessed that whatever the tragedy might be, its location was -in that rear office.</p> - -<p>Therefore, he crossed the large room, threw the communicating door open, -and, standing in the doorway, took in the scene at a sweeping glance.</p> - -<p>There were two men in the medium-sized office.</p> - -<p>One was the man who had preceded him up the stairs.</p> - -<p>The man whom the boy had called Mr. Gay.</p> - -<p>The other was an older man, perhaps thirty-five years of age, tall, -stockily built, with a slight stoop in the shoulder, possessing a rather -cold, cynical-looking face, and a pair of gray eyes, which had a habit -of trying to bore holes into everything upon which they centered.</p> - -<p>This man at the time of Nick’s appearance stood leaning against a -flat-topped table with one side of his face toward the door. He saw Nick -as soon as the latter pushed the door wide open.</p> - -<p>The other man’s back was toward the door, and Nick’s presence was not -known to him immediately.</p> - -<p>He was just saying, his remarks being addressed to the older man:</p> - -<p>“Do you think anybody will believe your story?”</p> - -<p>The speaker was pointing to something before him.</p> - -<p>That something was the form of a young woman seated in a chair before an -open scroll-topped desk. One arm hung helplessly at her side, and she -had, apparently, partly fallen forward until her head and left arm -rested upon the desk.</p> - -<p>Nick recognized in this form the victim of a tragedy.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_6">{6}</a></span></p> - -<p>Before the detective had time to move a step forward, the elder man, -with those gray eyes focused upon Nick’s face, said:</p> - -<p>“What do you want?”</p> - -<p>“I want to know what has been going on here.”</p> - -<p>The younger man had wheeled around facing Nick, and he, in turn, asked:</p> - -<p>“Who are you?”</p> - -<p>“I am Nick Carter.”</p> - -<p>To Nick’s surprise the young man moved back several steps as if annoyed -or confused, and the elder scowled without removing his gray eyes from -Nick’s face.</p> - -<p>The latter advanced to the desk where the form of the young woman -reclined, and made a quick examination.</p> - -<p>There was a bullet wound in her right temple. The ball had pierced her -brain, and she was dead.</p> - -<p>On the right hand was a glove into which the fingers had been fitted, -but the thumb and upper part of the hand were still bare.</p> - -<p>The first inference drawn from this fact was that she had been shot -while engaged in putting on her gloves preparatory to leaving the -office.</p> - -<p>In the minute which followed, Nick made one of his lightning ocular -inspections of the premises, in which very little was left to be -discovered.</p> - -<p>At the end of that time the sound of many rushing footsteps was heard -coming up the stairs.</p> - -<p>All this time the two men in the room with him remained silent and -inactive.</p> - -<p>Nick walked into the main office, and met the first man of the ascending -throng at the door.</p> - -<p>It was a young policeman, whom Nick happened to know quite well.</p> - -<p>“Ah, Brown!” exclaimed Nick, confronting the officer at the threshold, -“I’m glad ’tis you. You’ll understand me without a lengthy -explanation.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_7">{7}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Who are you?” panted Brown, for Nick of course, was in disguise.</p> - -<p>“I am Nick Carter. There has been a crime committed back there, and -until I know more about it you must keep everybody out. Let none of -these curiosity-seekers intrude.”</p> - -<p>“I am at your service, Mr. Carter,” said Brown. “Lord, I’m glad you’re -here. Seems to me you always bob up when anything happens. What is it? -Murder?”</p> - -<p>“I want to find out. Is there anybody with you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, McCarthy is coming, but he’s so fat it’s hard and slow work for -him to get up all these stairs. Here he is now.”</p> - -<p>Some one rapped on the door at that instant. Brown admitted a policeman, -who was blowing like a porpoise.</p> - -<p>“Bad cess to thim shtairs!” gasped McCarthy, “an’ thor had bin tin more -ov ’em, sure it’s a dead mon I’d be this minute.”</p> - -<p>“Well, McCarthy, just take charge of this door, and see that no one -enters who has no right. Those who have a right, and whom I want to come -in, are persons who have been in this building within the last hour, and -the boy who carried you the news.”</p> - -<p>Brown opened the door and beckoned to the boy to enter. The latter drew -back as if about to fly again, but a man near by grasped him by the -shoulder and pushed him toward the door.</p> - -<p>“Who are you?” inquired Nick.</p> - -<p>“I’m the janitor,” was the reply.</p> - -<p>“Then come in, too.”</p> - -<p>Still keeping hold of the terrified boy, the janitor entered the office -and the door was once more closed in the face of the crowd, which by -this time numbered nearly a score.</p> - -<p>“Brown, I want you to summon the coroner, or one of his deputies just as -soon as you can get him here.”</p> - -<p>Brown asked no questions, but left on his mission instantly.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_8">{8}</a></span></p> - -<p>“What’s your name?” asked Nick, turning to the janitor.</p> - -<p>“Bush—John Bush, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Then, Mr. Bush, I want you to look out among the people in that crowd -in the hall and identify anybody who has offices in this building.”</p> - -<p>McCarthy held the door ajar while the janitor scanned the eager faces in -the crowd.</p> - -<p>“There is Mr. Grote, Mr. Kennedy, and Miss Lucas,” was his report.</p> - -<p>“Tell them to come in,” commanded Nick, in a low voice.</p> - -<p>“Will Mr. Grote, Mr. Kennedy, and Miss Lucas come in?” said the janitor, -addressing his words to the collection of people in the hall.</p> - -<p>The three persons answering to these names crowded their way forward, -and were admitted.</p> - -<p>Then the door closed again.</p> - -<p>To the five people inside, not including the policeman, Nick said:</p> - -<p>“You will wait in this room until further orders. Meanwhile, officer,” -turning and addressing McCarthy, “let no one else in until Brown returns -with the coroner, and see that nobody meantime leaves by that door.”</p> - -<p>Nick turned toward the inner room to find the young, stylishly-dressed -man looking out, much interested at what had been going on in the larger -office.</p> - -<h2><a id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /><br /> -<small>THE GLOVE ON THE DEAD GIRL’S HAND.</small></h2> - -<p>Nick returned to the rear room. His first act was probably a surprise to -both the men whom he had found there when he first entered.</p> - -<p>In short, he requested the two men to step into the outer office.</p> - -<p>They complied rather hesitatingly.</p> - -<p>He followed them, and closed the communicating door.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_9">{9}</a></span></p> - -<p>Then he coolly took a seat near by, and waited for the coroner.</p> - -<p>Fifteen minutes after Brown started to bring the coroner, he returned in -company with that official.</p> - -<p>Nick met the coroner quietly, and lost no time in making himself known -to him.</p> - -<p>Then he requested Brown to send the crowd on the outside about their -business, and again cautioned McCarthy to let no one of those in the -large office go out.</p> - -<p>This done, he preceded the coroner into the rear office, and closed the -door behind them.</p> - -<p>The coroner took a quick inventory of the surroundings, and then turned -to Nick for information.</p> - -<p>The detective related everything just as it occurred to him, except that -he made no mention of the type-written note which had brought him to the -scene at such a strange time.</p> - -<p>“And what have you learned of the case from those two men, Mr. Carter?” -inquired the coroner.</p> - -<p>“Nothing. I have asked not a single question, preferring to wait till -you got here to receive the story of the case as these people can or -will give it.”</p> - -<p>“That is quite complimentary, I am sure, Mr. Carter. Whom shall we -question first?”</p> - -<p>“Before we question anybody let me tell you about a few things I have -noted in this office.”</p> - -<p>“All right—go on.”</p> - -<p>“The victim was shot in the right temple.”</p> - -<p>“I see.”</p> - -<p>“From the position of the body the shot must have been fired by some one -standing in front of that window, or the shot must have come from across -the street and through the open window.”</p> - -<p>The coroner noticed that the desk on which the dead woman had fallen was -almost<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_10">{10}</a></span> exactly in front of an open window and about twelve feet from -it.</p> - -<p>He glanced across the street and discovered that a window in an opposite -building was directly in line with the office window and the desk.</p> - -<p>“You think the shot was fired by some one standing in that window over -there?”</p> - -<p>“I did not say so. On the contrary, I found this pistol lying directly -under the victim’s dependent hand.”</p> - -<p>“Suicide?”</p> - -<p>“I am expressing no opinion, just stating facts,” quietly remarked Nick, -as the coroner took a pistol from him and examined it.</p> - -<p>The weapon was of Smith & Wesson make, had six chambers, was peculiarly -mounted, and on a silver plate inlaid in the handle were the initials -“E. L.”</p> - -<p>One of the chambers contained the empty shell of a cartridge. The other -four were loaded.</p> - -<p>The coroner stooped, and inspected the wound in the head of the victim.</p> - -<p>“I see no powder marks on her face,” he said, looking up at Nick.</p> - -<p>“There are none. Besides, I call your attention to the condition of the -right hand.”</p> - -<p>The coroner’s eyes turned quickly to the hand of the corpse, which hung -at the side of the body.</p> - -<p>“Ha! I see. She was putting on her glove, and couldn’t have handled the -pistol herself.”</p> - -<p>“Not unless she fired the shot with her left hand.”</p> - -<p>“But the bullet entered the right temple?”</p> - -<p>“I am not sure of it.”</p> - -<p>“But see. Here is the wound,” cried the coroner, pointing to the little -blue spot on the side of the girl’s face, which was turned up to their -gaze.</p> - -<p>“Yes, that is a wound. But the bullet might have come out at that place -instead of going in.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_11">{11}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Oh! Then there is a wound on the other side of the head; the side which -lies upon the desk.”</p> - -<p>“I think there is.”</p> - -<p>“You think. Don’t you know—have you not raised the head to see?”</p> - -<p>“I have not raised the head to see, but I know there is.”</p> - -<p>“Why, how do you know if you have not seen?”</p> - -<p>“Because here is the fatal bullet, and it not only went into her head, -but clean through it.”</p> - -<p>“Where did you find it?”</p> - -<p>“In that corner of the room back there.”</p> - -<p>“Why, that is almost behind the body?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. The bullet passed through her head, hit the steam coil on the -other side of the desk, and carromed at an acute angle, fetching up in -the corner where I found it.”</p> - -<p>“It was surely not suicide,” mused the coroner.</p> - -<p>“It may not have been,” responded Nick.</p> - -<p>“She would certainly not have stopped while putting on her gloves to -commit suicide?”</p> - -<p>“You say gloves. There is but one glove,” remarked Nick, dryly.</p> - -<p>“Only one in sight. We shall find the other, I presume, if we make -search.”</p> - -<p>“I doubt it.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“Because the glove she partly put on that hand is not her own.”</p> - -<p>“Not her own? Why, man, how do you know?”</p> - -<p>“Because it is fully a size too small for her.”</p> - -<p>“But——”</p> - -<p>“You would say she has it partly on. That is true, but if you examine it -carefully you will see that the fingers would not even go in as far as -the ends. The glove could not have been forced on her hands.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_12">{12}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Then whose is it?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Nick, who meanwhile had walked across the office -and was examining a woman’s light sack which hung from a hook on the -wall. “It certainly didn’t belong to her, for here is the pair she -used.”</p> - -<p>He held up a pair of gloves of an entirely different color, and probably -several sizes larger than that which was partially on the hand of the -corpse.</p> - -<p>“Well, by Jove!” muttered the coroner.</p> - -<p>Nick had reached down again into the pocket in which he found the -gloves. This time he fished out a lady’s pocket-book. Without opening -it, he carried it across the room and gently pulled the glove from the -stiffening fingers of the dead girl.</p> - -<p>Then he rolled the three gloves and the pocket-book up together, and put -them all away in an inside pocket of his coat.</p> - -<p>“With your permission, I’ll take charge of these important articles of -evidence,” he said to the coroner.</p> - -<p>The latter nodded assent, and asked:</p> - -<p>“What is in the pocket-book?”</p> - -<p>“We’ll find out later when I’ve time to examine it. Now, we must get -together our facts by questioning those people out there one at a time.”</p> - -<p>“A good idea.”</p> - -<p>“But, before we begin, I want to make a request.”</p> - -<p>“Name it.”</p> - -<p>“That you postpone the inquest from day to day till I have a chance to -get to the very bottom of the mystery.”</p> - -<p>“Willingly, my boy, and meantime I’ll not bother my brains about it, -because I know what Nick Carter cannot fathom in a case like this will -never be found out.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you. Now, we will call in and question our first witness.”</p> - -<p>“Who will it be? the elder of the two men—the one who must have been -here first after the tragedy or when it occurred?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_13">{13}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“No, I think I’ll first hear what the younger and more fashionably -dressed one of the two has to tell. I’ll call him in.”</p> - -<p>So saying, Nick went to the dividing door, opened it, and beckoned to -the man who had preceded him up the stairs only a few seconds to the -scene of the tragedy.</p> - -<p>The young man entered the rear office, plainly laboring under great -excitement. Nick closed and locked the door, invited his witness to take -a seat, and lost no time in beginning his examination.</p> - -<h2><a id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /><br /> -<small>WHAT THE CONFIDENTIAL CLERK KNEW.</small></h2> - -<p>“In order to get down to the facts in this case,” began Nick, addressing -the young man, “it will be necessary to apply for information to those -who are supposed to be in possession of the knowledge we seek. We have, -therefore, called you in first to set us on the way in our inquiry.”</p> - -<p>“I am ready to answer any question which it is in my power to do?” -responded the young man, trying hard to repress his nervousness.</p> - -<p>“What is your name?”</p> - -<p>“Oscar Gay.”</p> - -<p>“What is your business?”</p> - -<p>“Confidential clerk.”</p> - -<p>“For whom?”</p> - -<p>“Bridgely & Byke.”</p> - -<p>“Where are Messrs. Bridgely & Byke now?”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Byke is in Europe—has been away about one month.”</p> - -<p>“And Bridgely?”</p> - -<p>“Bridgely has been dead more than a year.”</p> - -<p>“Then Byke represents the firm as it existed before the death of the -senior partner—he constitutes the firm?”</p> - -<p>Gay hesitated and shuffled uneasily in his seat for a few moments before -he replied:<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_14">{14}</a></span></p> - -<p>“The firm name remains the same, but Mr. Byke has a partner.”</p> - -<p>“Who?”</p> - -<p>“Victor Redway.”</p> - -<p>“The man I found in this room with you a while ago?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“This Redway, do I understand you, took a place in the firm after -Bridgely’s death?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“And before that?”</p> - -<p>“He was the confidential clerk of the firm.”</p> - -<p>“Then you succeeded in the place made vacant by him when he was admitted -to partnership by Mr. Byke?”</p> - -<p>“I did.”</p> - -<p>“Now, Mr. Gay, who was that dead girl—she was scarcely more than a -girl.”</p> - -<p>“Her name was Estelle Langdon. She was the office stenographer and -type-writer.”</p> - -<p>“Where did she live?”</p> - -<p>“Somewhere up in Harlem.”</p> - -<p>“Was she married?”</p> - -<p>Gay’s eyes gave a quick flash toward Nick’s face at this question—a -fact the detective mentally noted without pretending to notice it. The -answer came almost immediately.</p> - -<p>“Not that anybody was aware of.”</p> - -<p>“Has she relatives?”</p> - -<p>“None—I believe.”</p> - -<p>“How long have you known her?”</p> - -<p>“About six months since she came here.”</p> - -<p>“What do you know about the way she died?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing, except what I saw as I entered the office just before you -came.”</p> - -<p>“Tell us what that was—what you saw.”</p> - -<p>“The body was lying there just as it is now. Mr. Redway was near by on -the side next to the window. When I entered, his body was in a bent -position, and one hand was extended toward the pistol on the floor.”</p> - -<p>“About to pick it up?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_15">{15}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Either that, or had just laid it down.”</p> - -<p>Nick came to a dead halt in his queries at this answer, and sat for -thirty seconds looking Gay straight in the face. The latter became -plainly uncomfortable under the detective’s glance.</p> - -<p>“Did you ever see that pistol before?” inquired Nick, when he once more -continued his examination.</p> - -<p>“I did.”</p> - -<p>“To whom did it belong?”</p> - -<p>“To Victor Redway.”</p> - -<p>“But the initials ‘E. L.,’ how do you account for them?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t account for them. They were on the pistol as long as I knew -Redway to possess it.”</p> - -<p>“How long is that?”</p> - -<p>“Several months.”</p> - -<p>“Did Redway carry this pistol regularly?”</p> - -<p>“He never carried it.”</p> - -<p>“Then where did he keep it?”</p> - -<p>“In the drawer of his desk over there.”</p> - -<p>Gay nodded to the flat-topped desk setting against the wall to the right -of the open window, and almost directly behind the corpse.</p> - -<p>“You are sure of that statement?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I have seen it there often.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t he keep the desk locked?”</p> - -<p>“No. I never knew him to carry a key to the desk.”</p> - -<p>“Then Miss Langdon could have got the pistol herself had she chosen?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so.”</p> - -<p>“What was the relationship of Redway and Miss Langdon?”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Were they on friendly terms?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes.”</p> - -<p>“Very confidential?”</p> - -<p>“No, hardly that, I guess. Not in the presence of any one else, anyhow.”</p> - -<p>“Might they have been lovers?”</p> - -<p>“If they were, no one knew it.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_16">{16}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Did they ever quarrel?”</p> - -<p>“Not to my knowledge.”</p> - -<p>“They occupied this office together?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Where is your desk?”</p> - -<p>“In that other private office,” pointing to an adjoining room into which -a door gave communication a little to the right of the desk on which the -body lay, and separated from the office they were in by a heavy division -wall. The door was closed, but a transom above the door stood wide open, -as Nick was quick to note.</p> - -<p>He lost no time in fixing in his mind the location of this room in its -connection with the other two.</p> - -<p>It formed the L to the suite, and had no direct communication with the -large or general office. There were two doors only to this third room. -One connected it with the room in which the body was found and the other -opened into the hall.</p> - -<p>Therefore, to get into that room, it was necessary to enter either -directly from the hall or through both the other offices.</p> - -<p>“This is Mr. Byke’s private office, I suppose?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“And you, as his confidential clerk, have your desk in there?”</p> - -<p>“Only in his absence; when he is at home, I occupy a desk in the large -office.”</p> - -<p>“Were you in there at your desk to-day?”</p> - -<p>“Not since noon.”</p> - -<p>“You were absent since noon?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, until I returned just in time to be ‘in at the death.’<span class="lftspc">”</span></p> - -<p>There was a bad attempt to smile, as this was said, but the smile was -painfully forced.</p> - -<p>“Then you know nothing about the manner of the tragedy?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing.”</p> - -<p>“You and Redway were exchanging hot words when I surprised you. What was -it that passed between you?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_17">{17}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“I accused him of having killed Miss Langdon.”</p> - -<p>“And what reply did he make?”</p> - -<p>“He was insolent. Asked me what I intended to do about it, and wanted to -know what proofs I had to fortify my charges.”</p> - -<p>“And then?”</p> - -<p>“You came almost before I could reply.”</p> - -<p>“And have you any proofs?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing but suspicion.”</p> - -<p>“On what is that suspicion based?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ve noticed that Miss Langdon has been growing fond of him for -the last few months. She showed it frequently. I imagined that he at -first received her preferences with pleasure, but that of late they had -become annoying to him.”</p> - -<p>“That is the result of observation only?”</p> - -<p>“That is all. I may be mistaken, too, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Has Redway a family?”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean is he married?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Has he a wife, children, or relatives with whom he lives?”</p> - -<p>“I believe not—not that any one knows of.”</p> - -<p>“Where does he live?”</p> - -<p>“In bachelor apartments on Fifty-fifth street.”</p> - -<p>“That will do for the present, Mr. Gay.”</p> - -<p>The young man arose, and started to go into the other private room by -way of the communicating door, but Nick stopped him.</p> - -<p>“Not there, Mr. Gay. You will be so kind as to remain in the outer -office until we have questioned the other parties.”</p> - -<p>Gay scowled and went reluctantly back to the large office.</p> - -<p>Nick gave the coroner a significant look, and remarked:</p> - -<p>“He seems to be very anxious to get into that closed room, but he’ll not -do it till I’ve had a look in there first myself.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_18">{18}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“What do you make of this Oscar Gay?” asked the coroner.</p> - -<p>“Nothing—yet. We’ll now see what Victor Redway has to say.”</p> - -<h2><a id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> -<small>THE JUNIOR PARTNER’S STRANGE BEHAVIOR.</small></h2> - -<p>Victor Redway entered the room of death looking pale and worried. He -cast a glance at the body of the dead girl, and a perceptible shudder -shook his frame.</p> - -<p>Nick lost no time in “doing business” with the junior member of the law -firm.</p> - -<p>“Your name is Victor Redway?” began Nick.</p> - -<p>Redway nodded assent.</p> - -<p>“The junior member of this law firm?”</p> - -<p>“As Mr. Gay informed you, I presume.”</p> - -<p>There was a decided sneer in the reply.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Gay has told us a number of things. How many of them were truth -remains to be seen.”</p> - -<p>As Nick said this, he did not fail to notice that Redway seemed pleased -with the latter part of the sentence.</p> - -<p>“The two men are enemies, if not openly, then unavowed,” thought Nick. -To Redway he said:</p> - -<p>“We have called you in here to get your version or story of the tragedy -so far as you are willing to give it.”</p> - -<p>“Willing to give it? What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Why, this: I am a detective; this is the coroner; you are a lawyer. -This is not an inquest, nor yet a preliminary hearing; you are not under -oath. There may be circumstances about the death of that girl which you -do not desire to tell. Indeed, it might be to your interest not to talk -of it at all.”</p> - -<p>Redway looked at Nick long and steadily. At last he said:</p> - -<p>“I think I understand you. You believe I killed her?”</p> - -<p>“I have no belief one way or the other.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_19">{19}</a></span> It is my business to prove, to -know, not to believe.”</p> - -<p>“But I am suspected?”</p> - -<p>“The law will undoubtedly look to you to make a satisfactory explanation -of your knowledge of the crime, or your ignorance of it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, suppose you ask me your questions.”</p> - -<p>“You will answer?”</p> - -<p>“Some of them, perhaps. As a lawyer, I may choose to remain silent on -some points—for the present, at least.”</p> - -<p>“Then I’ll begin at the beginning. Mr. Redway, did you kill that girl?”</p> - -<p>The answer came without hesitation, and accompanied by the faintest -touch of a smile.</p> - -<p>“I certainly did not.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know who did?”</p> - -<p>The answer to this question was not given so spontaneously, and the -smile gave way just an instant to the shadow of a frown. After only a -moment of hesitation, Redway replied:</p> - -<p>“No, I do not.”</p> - -<p>“Do you believe she committed suicide?”</p> - -<p>“My belief on that score is not of any value.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know whether she had any cause to kill herself?”</p> - -<p>“No.”</p> - -<p>“Did you ever hear her threaten to kill herself?”</p> - -<p>“Not directly.”</p> - -<p>“Will you explain?”</p> - -<p>“Well, she once dropped the remark that if she ever married, and her -husband deserted her for another woman she would, she believed, kill -herself.”</p> - -<p>“Ah!”</p> - -<p>“But she would first kill the man who deceived her and the woman who -robbed her of her rights?”</p> - -<p>“Oh! What called forth this declaration?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_20">{20}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“The story of a client who had suffered somewhat in the same manner.”</p> - -<p>“How did she hear the story?”</p> - -<p>“I told it to her.”</p> - -<p>“She was not married?”</p> - -<p>“Not to my knowledge.”</p> - -<p>“Had she a lover?”</p> - -<p>“How should I know.”</p> - -<p>“Were you and she not on confidential terms?”</p> - -<p>“Why should we be?”</p> - -<p>“You two were in here together a great deal.”</p> - -<p>“True, as man and employee. I am not one to become confidential with an -office attache.”</p> - -<p>“Not even with a pretty woman?”</p> - -<p>“Especially not with a woman of any kind.”</p> - -<p>There was a hard, bitter ring to these words, which Nick did not fail to -make a note of.</p> - -<p>“Yet you told her the story of that deceived client.”</p> - -<p>“There was a reason for that.”</p> - -<p>“What reason?”</p> - -<p>Redway frowned again, and answered:</p> - -<p>“That is something I refuse to say.”</p> - -<p>“You were not her lover, Mr. Redway?”</p> - -<p>An angry flush mounted the young lawyer’s brow, and he replied:</p> - -<p>“The question is not worthy of an answer.”</p> - -<p>“You are sure you never gave her cause to believe you thought more of -her than any other young woman?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t pretend to know what is in any woman’s mind.”</p> - -<p>“But your treatment of her——”</p> - -<p>“Was of a business kind entirely.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we’ll leave that part of the subject and come down to the -tragedy. Were you in the room when the fatal shot was fired?”</p> - -<p>“Why, no, certainly not.”</p> - -<p>“Where were you?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_21">{21}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“On the street.”</p> - -<p>“Was there any one in the office at the time?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know.”</p> - -<p>“When you came in you found her lying there on that desk dead?”</p> - -<p>Nick once more noticed just the mote of a hesitation in the reply.</p> - -<p>“Yes, she was sitting there in that chair stone dead.”</p> - -<p>“How long had you been out of the office?”</p> - -<p>“Ten or fifteen minutes—maybe longer.”</p> - -<p>“Where had you gone?”</p> - -<p>“To the street.”</p> - -<p>“To any particular place?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“You had an object in leaving the office for the street?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps.”</p> - -<p>“But had you not?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes. There usually is an object in all we do.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what was your object in this instance?”</p> - -<p>“I think I will not answer that question.”</p> - -<p>“Very well. When you went out, what was Miss Langdon doing?”</p> - -<p>“Putting her desk in order.”</p> - -<p>“Preparatory to leaving?”</p> - -<p>“I supposed so.”</p> - -<p>“Was it her time to go home?”</p> - -<p>“It was past the time.”</p> - -<p>“What had detained her?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. A woman’s whim, perhaps.”</p> - -<p>“Did you say anything to her as you went out?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“What?”</p> - -<p>“She asked me: ‘Are you going, Mr. Redway,’ and I replied: ‘Yes.’<span class="lftspc">”</span></p> - -<p>“She meant to ask whether you were leaving for the day?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_22">{22}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so.”</p> - -<p>“And you deceived her?”</p> - -<p>“No. I had no intention then of coming back.”</p> - -<p>“What changed your mind?”</p> - -<p>“A mere whim. I couldn’t answer you intelligently on that point.”</p> - -<p>“You mean you will not,” thought Nick.</p> - -<p>“When you came in you found her dead?” Nick continued.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I said so before.”</p> - -<p>“Any one else in the office?”</p> - -<p>“No.”</p> - -<p>“You gave no immediate alarm?”</p> - -<p>“No.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“Because I realized from the first that it was an awkward fix for me to -be in, any way I could manage it.”</p> - -<p>“So you remained?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“What did you do here alone with the corpse?”</p> - -<p>Redway’s gray eyes once more turned sharply on Nick’s face before he -made reply.</p> - -<p>“I spent a few minutes trying to find some trace of the crime, and at -the same time figuring upon my own danger.”</p> - -<p>“So you waited for some one to come in?”</p> - -<p>“I waited till some one did come in.”</p> - -<p>“Who was it?”</p> - -<p>“Jack Marston—the office boy.”</p> - -<p>“How long after you returned was it till Jack Marston appeared?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. A man under such circumstances hasn’t much knowledge of -time.”</p> - -<p>“Did you send him to summon the police?”</p> - -<p>“I made him understand that Miss Langdon had been killed, and—well, he -did the rest without waiting for directions.”</p> - -<p>Again that faint smile twitched the corners of Redway’s stern mouth.</p> - -<p>“And while he was gone Gay came in?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_23">{23}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“When he entered the door where were you?”</p> - -<p>“At the side of the corpse.”</p> - -<p>“What were you doing?”</p> - -<p>“I had just stooped to pick up the pistol.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! But you didn’t pick it up?”</p> - -<p>“Why, no! In my personal contact with Gay I forgot it.”</p> - -<p>Nick gave a quiet chuckle in his innermost soul at so neatly trapping a -lawyer.</p> - -<p>“Whose pistol was it, Mr. Redway?”</p> - -<p>“Mine.”</p> - -<p>“Where was it when you saw it last before you saw it on the floor near -the dead girl?”</p> - -<p>“In the drawer of my desk over there.”</p> - -<p>“When was that?”</p> - -<p>“This morning.”</p> - -<p>“Was it loaded?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Every chamber?”</p> - -<p>“I remember distinctly filling the chambers with cartridges yesterday, -and I have not fired one of them since.”</p> - -<p>Nick noted the evasive answer.</p> - -<p>“Were you in the habit of keeping it loaded?”</p> - -<p>“No. On the contrary, I seldom had a cartridge in it. Yesterday I bought -some and filled the chambers.”</p> - -<p>“What for?”</p> - -<p>“I intended it for the benefit of a cat which spends the midnight -keeping people awake.”</p> - -<p>“Another evasive answer,” mentally noted Nick.</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I went away without taking it with me. Hence it lay there all day -loaded.”</p> - -<p>“Did Miss Langdon know the pistol was in that drawer?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose she did. The drawer was never locked, and she frequently went -there to get things out of it.”</p> - -<p>“That is all I have to ask you at present, Mr. Redway. Will you have the -kindness to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_24">{24}</a></span> remain in the outer office till we have a talk with the -office boy?”</p> - -<p>“I have no choice but to oblige you,” came the sarcastic reply, and the -junior partner left the room.</p> - -<p>The coroner looked at Nick with a puzzled expression on his face.</p> - -<p>“What do you make of Mr. Redway?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Nothing yet, but there is a good deal more to learn which may place Mr. -Redway in an entirely different light. Now for Jack Marston. I depend on -the boy for information which may be most valuable.”</p> - -<h2><a id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /><br /> -<small>THE MYSTERIOUS LADY CALLER.</small></h2> - -<p>Jack Marston labored under extreme terror in the presence of the dead -girl—so much so that Nick spent five minutes getting the lad’s mind in -condition to answer questions coherently. Then he began on the lad -cautiously.</p> - -<p>“How long have you been office boy for Bridgely & Byke, Jack?” asked the -detective.</p> - -<p>“Nearly two years.”</p> - -<p>“What are your hours?”</p> - -<p>“I get here at eight o’clock, and this time of year go home generally at -five.”</p> - -<p>“The office is closed up at that time?”</p> - -<p>“The janitor generally takes it to clean up. Sometimes he don’t get in -till later.”</p> - -<p>“Do you lock up when you go away?”</p> - -<p>“No, the janitor does that.”</p> - -<p>“Who leaves the first generally?”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Byke, when he’s here.”</p> - -<p>“And when he’s not here?”</p> - -<p>“Why, Mr. Gay. Mr. Gay has been out a good deal since Mr. Byke went to -Europe. He went away to-day about eleven o’clock, and told me he wasn’t -coming back, but he did come, late as it was.”</p> - -<p>“Are you always the last to leave?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_25">{25}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“No, sir! Sometimes Mr. Redway stays here later than five, but he never -keeps me.”</p> - -<p>“And Miss Langdon?”</p> - -<p>“She always left when I did—at five o’clock. The elevator stops running -then.”</p> - -<p>“But she didn’t leave at five to-day?”</p> - -<p>“I guess not, sir.”</p> - -<p>“How does it come you returned to-day after your hour for going home?”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Redway sent me on an errand.”</p> - -<p>“What kind of an errand?”</p> - -<p>“To take his watch to a jeweler’s on Broadway to be cleaned.”</p> - -<p>“What time was that?”</p> - -<p>“Ten minutes before five.”</p> - -<p>“And told you to come back?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir; he said I needn’t come back. But the jeweler’s place was -closed on account of a death in the family and I came back with the -watch.”</p> - -<p>“Did you give him the watch?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir, I forgot it. I was so scared.”</p> - -<p>“Where is it?”</p> - -<p>“In my pocket.”</p> - -<p>“Let me see it.”</p> - -<p>The boy handed to Nick a magnificent gold hunting case watch. Merely -glancing at it, Nick said:</p> - -<p>“I’ll return this to Mr. Redway. You needn’t tell him that the jeweler’s -place was closed.”</p> - -<p>“But——”</p> - -<p>“No buts about it, lad. I am Nick Carter, and represent Superintendent -Byrnes, and this is the coroner. You do what I tell you and no harm -shall come to you.”</p> - -<p>Nick saw he was dealing with a naturally bright, quick-witted and honest -lad.</p> - -<p>“Now, then, Jack, tell me. Who was here in these offices when you left -to take Mr. Redway’s watch to the jeweler’s?”</p> - -<p>“Nobody, except him and Miss Langdon.”</p> - -<p>“That was ten minutes before five.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_26">{26}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“You are sure that he didn’t follow you to the street?”</p> - -<p>“Not that I saw. He had just come in from the street about ten minutes -before.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, he went out with a lady, and was gone nearly half an hour.”</p> - -<p>“Who was she?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. I never saw her before.”</p> - -<p>“What kind of looking lady was she?”</p> - -<p>“Young and very handsome.”</p> - -<p>“Whom did she ask for when she came?”</p> - -<p>“For Mr. Redway.”</p> - -<p>“Did she not give a name?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. I asked her for her name. But she replied with a question, ‘Is -he in there?’ Then she walked back, opened the door, came in here and -shut it.”</p> - -<p>“Before the door closed I heard Mr. Redway say, ‘What—you here?’<span class="lftspc">”</span></p> - -<p>“Where was Miss Langdon?”</p> - -<p>“Out at lunch.”</p> - -<p>“What time was that?”</p> - -<p>“When the lady came?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“About half-past two o’clock.”</p> - -<p>“And how long did she stay?”</p> - -<p>“Till a quarter past four.”</p> - -<p>“Was in there all that time with Mr. Redway?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Did no one disturb them?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. Mr. Redway gave me orders soon after the lady went in that he -was not to be disturbed by anybody. So I sent several parties away.”</p> - -<p>“But Miss Langdon?”</p> - -<p>“She came back about a quarter of three and sat out there in the big -office with me till the lady went away.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t she appear to be curious about the strange visitor?”</p> - -<p>“Not one bit till the lady went out and she saw her. Then she got -somewhat excited.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_27">{27}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“She saw the woman as the latter went out?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. Miss Langdon was in the big office as Mr. Redway and the lady -went through on their way to the elevator. Mr. Redway said to me as he -passed, ‘I’ll be back soon, Jack,’ and accompanied the lady downstairs.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe either of them saw Miss Langdon, who was sitting in the -corner, sort of behind the door.”</p> - -<p>“And you say the sight of the strange woman excited her?”</p> - -<p>“Very much. As soon as they were on the elevator she began asking -questions about the woman, and seemed to be very much worked up, though -up to that time she scarcely seemed to give the lady visitor a thought.”</p> - -<p>“Was Miss Langdon inclined to grow excited?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. On the contrary, she was nearly always quiet and easy-going.”</p> - -<p>“What did she do till Mr. Redway returned?”</p> - -<p>“Walked around in that office there nervously, and seemed as if she -couldn’t wait till he got back.”</p> - -<p>“Well, when he came back—what then?”</p> - -<p>“He went right back to the office, and left the door open behind him. -Miss Langdon shut it herself.”</p> - -<p>“Ah! that is interesting. Go on.”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t hear much that was said, though I might had I cared to listen, -for Miss Langdon’s voice was raised to a high pitch.”</p> - -<p>“Did you hear anything?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. I couldn’t help it. She almost shrieked the words.”</p> - -<p>“What words?”</p> - -<p>“Why, these: ‘If I was sure of it, her life wouldn’t be worth a penny.’<span class="lftspc">”</span></p> - -<p>“Were they still quarreling when you were sent out with Mr. Redway’s -watch?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. At least, she seemed to have cooled off considerable.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_28">{28}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“When you came in what was Mr. Redway doing?”</p> - -<p>“Washing his hands in that stationary basin over there,” said Jack, -pointing to a lavatory behind a screen in one corner of the office.</p> - -<p>“What did he say?”</p> - -<p>“He seemed very much surprised and somewhat confused. I saw Miss Langdon -lying on the desk that way, and, remembering the scene between them, I -asked:</p> - -<p>“<span class="lftspc">‘</span>Why, Mr. Redway, what ails her?’</p> - -<p>“He said: ‘Jack, she has met with an awful accident.’</p> - -<p>“Then I went up, and as soon as I saw she was dead I ran as fast as I -could downstairs and met Mr. Gay coming up.”</p> - -<p>“Did you ever see this pistol, Jack?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, often.”</p> - -<p>“Where?”</p> - -<p>“In Mr. Redway’s desk over there.”</p> - -<p>“When did you see it last?”</p> - -<p>“Yesterday.”</p> - -<p>“Where?”</p> - -<p>“In Miss Langdon’s hands.”</p> - -<p>“What was she doing with it?”</p> - -<p>“Loading it.”</p> - -<p>“What for?”</p> - -<p>“She said Mr. Redway had loaned it to her to shoot a cat.”</p> - -<p>Nick’s mind instantly reverted to Redway’s evasive words about shooting -cats.</p> - -<p>“But she didn’t use it, I guess?” ventured Nick.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, but I reckon she tried it.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“The pistol was not there last night after she went away.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure?”</p> - -<p>“Quite sure. I went to the drawer for some blanks, and the pistol was -gone, though the box of cartridges was still there.”</p> - -<p>“Did you see the pistol this evening?”</p> - -<p>“I haven’t seen it since till now.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_29">{29}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“It was on the floor, almost at the touch of Miss Langdon’s hand.”</p> - -<p>“The one which hung down—had the glove on?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“You are mistaken, sir.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“I noticed the hand with the glove on when I went to look at her. There -was no pistol near it.”</p> - -<p>“You may not have noticed it.”</p> - -<p>“I would have seen it if it had been there,” insisted Jack.</p> - -<p>With a caution to the lad to keep sealed lips for a day or two Nick -dismissed him.</p> - -<h2><a id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /><br /> -<small>WHAT THE STRANGE WOMAN SAW FROM ACROSS THE STREET.</small></h2> - -<p>The janitor was the next person called and questioned.</p> - -<p>“You take charge of the offices every evening to clean them out and lock -them up, do you not?” asked Nick.</p> - -<p>“I do, sir.”</p> - -<p>“What time do you generally begin that work?”</p> - -<p>“Usually right after five o’clock, when Mr. Redway leaves.”</p> - -<p>“But you did not come to these offices at five o’clock to-day, nor yet -as early as half-past five?”</p> - -<p>“True, sir. I had been asked to wait till six o’clock.”</p> - -<p>“Asked to wait till six? By whom?”</p> - -<p>“By Miss Langdon, God rest her soul!”</p> - -<p>“Did she say why she wanted you to wait?”</p> - -<p>“She said she would be busy till that time.”</p> - -<p>Nick’s mind instantly reverted to the type-written message which had -summoned him to the place of the tragedy.</p> - -<p>“Besides sir,” continued the janitor, “Mr. Redway did not leave at five -o’clock as usual.”</p> - -<p>“How do you know that?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_30">{30}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“I saw him go downstairs five minutes after the elevator stopped, and it -stopped at five o’clock.”</p> - -<p>“This is important information. Did you see him come up again?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir; but somebody came up about five minutes after he went down, -for I heard the man’s steps. I was busy in an office two floors below, -however, and didn’t look out to see who it was.”</p> - -<p>“Were there any other persons in the building at that time?”</p> - -<p>“Only the three persons out there in that room. They occupy offices two -flights above, and are here every day till six o’clock.”</p> - -<p>“Did you hear a pistol shot?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir, I did not.”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t that strange?”</p> - -<p>“It does seem so, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Was there any unusual noise about the time the shot may have been -fired?”</p> - -<p>“Only once, sir.”</p> - -<p>“What was the noise?”</p> - -<p>“A wagon loaded with bar iron passed on the street below and made a -great clatter.”</p> - -<p>“About what time was that?”</p> - -<p>“Near five o’clock.”</p> - -<p>“Before or after Redway went downstairs?”</p> - -<p>“Just before, if I remember rightly.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Grote and Miss Lucas were then called in together and -questioned concerning what they knew of the affair.</p> - -<p>Neither had any knowledge which at first could throw light on the -subject in hand.</p> - -<p>They had been at work in their offices, two floors above, and neither -heard a pistol shot.</p> - -<p>“Do any of you remember the noise of a heavily loaded wagon which passed -through the street below about five o’clock?” inquired Nick.</p> - -<p>Mr. Grote remembered it distinctly, and for a good reason.</p> - -<p>When questioned for the reason, he replied<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_31">{31}</a></span> that at the time Miss Lucas -was standing at the window looking down the street. He had called to -her, and the din was so great he was compelled to raise the pitch of his -voice and call three times before she heard him.</p> - -<p>Miss Lucas then remembered the circumstance, but was not aware of any -unusual noise at the time. There might have been such a noise, however, -but her attention was wholly engrossed just then by something else.</p> - -<p>“What was it that interested you so much?” asked Nick. “Something you -saw in the street?”</p> - -<p>“No, something I saw in a window across the street.”</p> - -<p>“What did you see?”</p> - -<p>“A woman.”</p> - -<p>“Why did the woman prove so interesting?”</p> - -<p>“Because from her actions I thought she was watching something which was -going on in this building.”</p> - -<p>“Ah! now we are getting at something important. What made you believe -she was watching this building?”</p> - -<p>“Because when she first came to that window she looked out boldly, -fearlessly and carelessly; suddenly she drew back and hid her face -behind the edge of the window, seemingly on the watch and anxious not to -be noticed herself.”</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“She sat thus probably five minutes. Then, springing to her feet, she -almost ran away from the window and disappeared.”</p> - -<p>“What window was it through which she looked?”</p> - -<p>Miss Lucas pointed directly across the street and answered:</p> - -<p>“That one.”</p> - -<p>She had designated the window which Nick had previously noticed to be on -a line with the open window of Redway’s private office and the desk of -the dead girl.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_32">{32}</a></span></p> - -<p>Miss Lucas supplemented her information by saying:</p> - -<p>“Our offices are directly above these, and I was looking down at the -woman—or rather at the place from which she had disappeared a minute -before when Mr. Grote called me.”</p> - -<p>“Could you see the woman’s features?”</p> - -<p>“Distinctly when she first came to the window.”</p> - -<p>“Had you ever seen her before?”</p> - -<p>“Only once.”</p> - -<p>“When?”</p> - -<p>“To-day—this afternoon as I was going out to lunch.”</p> - -<p>“Where was she?”</p> - -<p>“She got into the elevator as I got out.”</p> - -<p>“What time was that?”</p> - -<p>“About half-past two o’clock.”</p> - -<p>Nick had no doubt that the woman at the window was Redway’s mysterious -visitor.</p> - -<p>Mr. Kennedy and Miss Lucas were dismissed with a caution to repeat none -of their information to any one else.</p> - -<p>Nick requested Mr. Grote to remain a few minutes.</p> - -<p>After Kennedy and the typewriter had gone back to the private office -Nick whispered to the coroner:</p> - -<p>“Make a pretense of trying to get some further information from Grote, -just to keep up the hum of conversation, while I take a look in the -private office of Mr. Byke.”</p> - -<p>So, while the coroner engaged Mr. Grote in further conversation, Nick -silently used his pick-lock, entered the private office of Mr. Byke and -remained for nearly ten minutes.</p> - -<p>When he returned to Redway’s office he locked the communicating door -behind him, and then said:</p> - -<p>“Mr. Grote, as a representative of Superintendent Byrnes, I ask you to -mention to no one the fact that you saw me enter that room just now. It -may be of great concern to innocent parties who are in danger at this -time<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_33">{33}</a></span> that my visit to Mr. Byke’s office shall not be known to any one -save our three selves for the present.”</p> - -<p>“You can rely on me, sir, to be mum on the subject.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, and that is all.”</p> - -<p>Nick himself accompanied Mr. Grote to the large office, and, addressing -the two policemen, said:</p> - -<p>“Mr. McCarthy, all these good people, except Mr. Redway, of whom we wish -to ask a few more questions, may go. Mr. Brown, you will see that they -have free access to their offices or the street.”</p> - -<p>Then, turning to Redway, the detective said:</p> - -<p>“I would like to get a little more information from you, Mr. Redway. -Will you be so kind as to step back into your office with me once more?”</p> - -<p>“Nobody could refuse a gentleman so polite as you,” was the sarcastic -reply.</p> - -<p>Once inside, and the door locked, Nick proceeded without delay to his -task.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Redway, you told me that you had been on the street, and when you -came back you found Miss Langdon dead.”</p> - -<p>“You have stated the case correctly, sir.”</p> - -<p>“What time was it when you left Miss Langdon here alive and went down to -the street?”</p> - -<p>“I cannot give you the exact time.”</p> - -<p>“Was it before or after five?”</p> - -<p>“Before.”</p> - -<p>“How do you know?”</p> - -<p>“Because I rode down in the elevator, and the elevator boy never makes a -trip after five o’clock.”</p> - -<p>“You are sure you rode down in the elevator?”</p> - -<p>“Why, certainly I am.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know where the elevator boy lives?”</p> - -<p>“No, but the janitor can tell you. He has his address.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_34">{34}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>The response was so feebly made that Nick was somewhat puzzled.</p> - -<p>“Where was your office boy when you went out?”</p> - -<p>“I had just sent him to the jeweler’s with my watch.”</p> - -<p>“How long before?”</p> - -<p>“Only a few minutes.”</p> - -<p>“How long did you remain on the street?”</p> - -<p>“Ten or fifteen minutes, probably.”</p> - -<p>“Why did you come up, go down and return the second time?”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Well, you say you rode down in the elevator a little before five and -came back ten or fifteen minutes later. Why did you go down almost -directly afterward and return the second time?”</p> - -<p>“I did not.”</p> - -<p>“But the janitor saw you going down the stairs about a quarter past -five.”</p> - -<p>“I beg the janitor’s pardon, but he saw nothing of the kind.”</p> - -<p>“You deny, then, that you walked downstairs about that time?”</p> - -<p>“Most emphatically. I have not walked downstairs in this building -to-day.”</p> - -<p>“When you were coming up did you have occasion to retrace your steps for -a short distance?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir.”</p> - -<p>“You came straight up without turning back once?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Is the janitor a truthful man?”</p> - -<p>“So far as I know, he is.”</p> - -<p>“If he declares, then, that he saw you go down the stairs at ten or -fifteen minutes after five, or at any time after five o’clock, what -would you say?”</p> - -<p>“That he either lied or was mistaken.”</p> - -<p>“Now, Mr. Redway, you refused to tell me why you went to the street on -that last trip<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_35">{35}</a></span> down and where you were. Do you still refuse to answer?”</p> - -<p>“I do.”</p> - -<p>“A lady visited you in this office this afternoon.”</p> - -<p>Redway’s face flushed and then grew pale. A cold, desperate gleam came -into his gray eyes and his lips closed tightly.</p> - -<p>“Do you deny that, too?” asked Nick, after Redway showed no intention of -replying to the statement of fact.</p> - -<p>“I do not.”</p> - -<p>“Who was she?”</p> - -<p>“That I refuse to tell.”</p> - -<p>“And the nature of her business here?”</p> - -<p>“Is my affair solely—and hers.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure it was not also Miss Langdon’s affair?”</p> - -<p>“Quite sure.”</p> - -<p>“After she went away you and Miss Langdon had a quarrel?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir, we had not.”</p> - -<p>“But Miss Langdon’s voice was heard in a highly pitched and exciting key -talking to you in here?”</p> - -<p>“Miss Langdon was mistress of her own voice. I repeat, we had no -quarrel.”</p> - -<p>“What was she saying to you while she was so excited?”</p> - -<p>“I surely cannot tell you.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“It concerned only herself, and she is dead. Her affairs are sacred so -far as I am concerned.”</p> - -<p>“You left the building with your lady visitor?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Where did you take her?”</p> - -<p>“To the elevated railroad station.”</p> - -<p>“Where does she live?”</p> - -<p>“You will have to get that information from her.”</p> - -<p>“Have you seen the lady since you left her at the elevated railroad -station?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_36">{36}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Carter, there is no use in your asking me any further questions or -of my answering any more.”</p> - -<p>“Then I presume, Mr. Redway, you are lawyer enough to understand your -position,” remarked Nick.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes! I must submit to arrest on suspicion. But I have no fears. -There is nothing in the case to fix the crime on me.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know how Miss Langdon died?”</p> - -<p>“I believe you asked me that question before, and I answered it. I do -not.”</p> - -<p>“Then, till we find out, you will have to submit to detention.”</p> - -<p>“Imprisoned, you mean. Well, I am ready.”</p> - -<p>Nick, accompanied by Officer Brown, took Redway to the nearest police -justice, where a commitment was sworn out, and Redway was lodged in the -Tombs.</p> - -<p>Before he left the Borden Building, however, Nick questioned the janitor -again about the person who went down the stairs shortly after five -o’clock.</p> - -<p>“Are you positive it was Mr. Redway?”</p> - -<p>“Sure as I live I am.”</p> - -<p>“No mistaking some one else for him?”</p> - -<p>“How could I? There’s no one else wears such a sky-blue suit, such a -straw hat with a black band or has such a long blonde mustache.”</p> - -<p>When Nick heard this answer, calling up Redway’s peculiar dress and -appearance, he couldn’t doubt the janitor’s word. Then he got the -address of the elevator boy, and turned the case over to the coroner -with this personal request:</p> - -<p>“Postpone your inquest from day to day, until I have had a little more -time to look into this affair.”</p> - -<p>Redway once safely in the Tombs, Nick went straight to the home of the -elevator boy. He found the lad at supper, and knew the news of the -tragedy in the Borden Building could not yet have reached him.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_37">{37}</a></span></p> - -<p>“I am trying to find Mr. Redway,” explained Nick, “and I thought you -might tell me where he is.”</p> - -<p>“Why, he has rooms somewhere on Fifty-fifth street, I believe. Did you -look in the directory?”</p> - -<p>“Yes! He isn’t there. Was he in the office to-day?”</p> - -<p>“Sure!”</p> - -<p>“You saw him?”</p> - -<p>“Why, yes, several times. He rode up and down with me.”</p> - -<p>“How many times?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, four or five, maybe!”</p> - -<p>“Was any one with him on any of the trips?”</p> - -<p>“There was a stunning-looking young lady with him once when he went -down.”</p> - -<p>“Was that the last time he went down?”</p> - -<p>“No, he came back half an hour later and went down with me on my last -trip at just five o’clock.”</p> - -<p>This information confirmed Redway’s statement, and was a puzzler for -Nick. He had reason now to know that if the janitor was correct in his -testimony Redway must have come up almost immediately by the stairs, -gone down the second time by the same way and returned a second time by -the stairs.</p> - -<p>The case had a very puzzling complexion at this particular place.</p> - -<p>“When did you see Mr. Gay last?” asked Nick.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Gay left the office about eleven o’clock and didn’t come back any -more.”</p> - -<p>“Did anybody inquire of you during the day for the offices of Bridgely & -Byke?”</p> - -<p>Nick expected the boy to say that the strange lady did. The reply was -rather disappointing.</p> - -<p>“Only one old fellow—an old man who rode up about half-past two or -three o’clock.”</p> - -<p>“How long did he stay?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_38">{38}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. He didn’t go down with me. Guess he must have walked.”</p> - -<p>“Half-past two or three o’clock,” said Nick to himself. “The office boy -told me that several parties came in while the strange woman was -closeted with Redway and that he sent them all away. This old man was -one of them, I suppose.”</p> - -<p>Then, for the time being, Nick dismissed all thoughts of the old man -from his mind. But the existence of that personage was destined soon to -be recollected with startling force.</p> - -<h2><a id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br /> -<small>NICK AND CHICK IN CONFERENCE.</small></h2> - -<p>The great detective’s next move was to go straight home and summon his -right-hand man, Chick, for a conference.</p> - -<p>Without a waste of words or time he put his assistant in possession of -all the facts of the case up to that minute.</p> - -<p>When he finally ended the details with an account of his visit to the -elevator boy he threw himself back in his chair and gave Chick a look -which meant:</p> - -<p>“That is all. What do you think of it?”</p> - -<p>The latter returned his chief’s stare for a full minute; then he uttered -the single word:</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>Nick echoed the monosyllable:</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“I guess you have a pretty deep case on your hands,” smiled Chick. “But -I’ll wager my watch against your toothpick on one point.”</p> - -<p>“Which is?”</p> - -<p>“That though you’ve locked Redway up in the Tombs you don’t believe he -killed the girl.”</p> - -<p>“You would win the toothpick if I took your bet. Still, I might be -mistaken.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe you are, and I shouldn’t be surprised if you had some -testimony back<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_39">{39}</a></span> of all that which you have revealed which puts this -Redway in a better light than ever.”</p> - -<p>“Chick, you are a good pupil; I’m proud of you.”</p> - -<p>“Thanks. I will go further, and say that I believe you think Redway -knows who killed the girl, or how she died, and that he is shielding -somebody.”</p> - -<p>“You must have learned mind-reading with your other accomplishments,” -smiled Nick. “Maybe you can tell me who it is that he is trying to -shield?”</p> - -<p>“Not unless it be the strange woman.”</p> - -<p>“Humph! We must find that woman and learn more about her,” was the -non-committal reply. “Chick, there is another character I want watched, -and you’re the very one to do it.”</p> - -<p>“Who?”</p> - -<p>“The confidential clerk—Gay.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, ho!”</p> - -<p>“I don’t like him. Besides, there is a mystery about him.”</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“He was absent from the building most of the day, but he managed to be -in at the death.”</p> - -<p>“Did you ask him what had brought him back at that particular time?”</p> - -<p>“No.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“It would have told him that he was under suspicion. Best to have him -off his guard.”</p> - -<p>“You have other evidence to involve him?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“I thought so. What is it?”</p> - -<p>“I told you about my quick, hurried secret visit to the office of the -senior member of the firm?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. What did you discover in there?”</p> - -<p>“Not much, and yet a good deal. There was a mirror so fixed near the -ceiling that a person standing or sitting near the connecting door could -see reflected everything which<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_40">{40}</a></span> went on in the other room where the -tragedy occurred.”</p> - -<p>“And, as the transom above the door was open, could hear as well?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“I see. That office was supposed to be deserted all the afternoon?”</p> - -<p>“Correct.”</p> - -<p>“Yet some one was concealed in there, and heard and saw all that was -said and done in Redway’s office?”</p> - -<p>“I believe so. Whoever it was, he or she made a mistake.”</p> - -<p>“By forgetting to remove the mirror?”</p> - -<p>“Exactly. And unless I am much mistaken that mirror will trap the person -we want.”</p> - -<p>“How?”</p> - -<p>“If it disappears from its place high up there on the wall before -to-morrow—and I think it will.”</p> - -<p>“I see, I see. You have arranged to find out who goes into that office?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. The janitor will keep me posted.”</p> - -<p>“Can you trust him?”</p> - -<p>“I think so.”</p> - -<p>“But how about his seeing Redway go downstairs at the time he says he -did?”</p> - -<p>“I believe he saw some one go down at that time.”</p> - -<p>“Who? Redway?”</p> - -<p>“That I am not ready to answer. It is one of the knotty places in the -mystery.”</p> - -<p>“Nick, who wrote that note to you?”</p> - -<p>“I have no doubt it was the girl who was killed.”</p> - -<p>“What was her object?”</p> - -<p>“She had serious work for a detective, or she would not have sent for -me. The girl wrote another note on her typewriter to-day besides the one -sent to me.”</p> - -<p>“To whom?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know; it is not addressed. I’ll show it to you.”</p> - -<p>Nick produced the dead girl’s pocketbook,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_41">{41}</a></span> from which he took a -typewritten slip, on which was this message:</p> - -<p>“You failed to keep your engagement last night. I’ll give you just one -more chance. Meet me to-night at the same place, 8:30 sharp, and be -ready to come to some definite understanding with me. If you fail me -this time I will consider myself absolved from my oath.”</p> - -<p>“Nick, this is the key to the whole tragedy.”</p> - -<p>“I think so, too.”</p> - -<p>“The note was never delivered.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly not.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“For want of an opportunity—that’s clear.”</p> - -<p>“She may have backed down after writing it.”</p> - -<p>“You believe the note was intended for Gay, and that he gave her the -slip to-day before she had a chance to get it to him?”</p> - -<p>“Right you are, lad.”</p> - -<p>“Did he go away from the office suddenly, without telling any one?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, except the office boy, whom he told just as he went out, leaving -word for Redway that he would not be back during the day. Of course, -Miss Langdon got the message indirectly.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what else?”</p> - -<p>“This.”</p> - -<p>Nick produced Redway’s watch and opened the back of the case. When he -turned the inside toward Chick the latter looked upon the portrait of a -lovely little girl of six or seven years of age.</p> - -<p>“Who is she?” asked Nick, as he gazed admiringly at the beautiful face.</p> - -<p>“That we must find out.”</p> - -<p>“Does she look like Redway?”</p> - -<p>“No. She has none of his features that I can see. Yet I believe it will -be found that the child plays a prominent part in the tragedy by some -indirect method.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_42">{42}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“Why do you think so?”</p> - -<p>“Because there is a slight resemblance between her face and the face of -the girl who was killed.”</p> - -<p>“Ah! that makes the child an important character in the case. What is -your next move, Nick?”</p> - -<p>“There is no next move. It must be a series of moves in which I need -your help and the aid of Ida.”</p> - -<p>“Well, map out your business.”</p> - -<p>“First, I want to find the mysterious woman.</p> - -<p>“Secondly, I want to find that little girl.</p> - -<p>“Thirdly, I want to discover where Estelle Langdon went last night—in -order to discover her place of meeting with the party to whom she -addressed that note.</p> - -<p>“Fourthly, I want Gay shadowed.”</p> - -<p>“Well, which part of the job is mine?”</p> - -<p>“I’m going to turn Gay over to you.”</p> - -<p>“All right. Gay’s my meat.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll look up the handsome, mysterious woman myself.”</p> - -<p>“And Ida?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll send Ida to the home of the dead girl to get information there.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you can give me an idea where I’ll find Gay?”</p> - -<p>“I think I can. Go down to the Borden Building, and wait till he comes -there.”</p> - -<p>“To-night?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly! He’ll wait till some of the excitement dies out in that -vicinity. Then he’ll visit that private office, or I am greatly -mistaken.”</p> - -<p>Ida was brought into the case at this stage and instructed in the part -she was expected to play.</p> - -<h2><a id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /><br /> -<small>NICK BEGINS TO SOLVE THE RIDDLE.</small></h2> - -<p>Having partaken of a hasty supper, and having changed his disguise, Nick -went<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_43">{43}</a></span> downtown again to the neighborhood of the tragedy.</p> - -<p>He did not go to the Borden Building this time, but to that one across -the street, in which was the office out of whose window he was convinced -the strange woman had seen the tragedy as it occurred in the office of -Bridgely & Byke.</p> - -<p>The building was locked up for the night, but Nick had no trouble in -finding the janitor, who lived in one of the upper rooms, but who at -that hour was on the street discussing with his acquaintances the -tragedy of the Borden Building.</p> - -<p>Oh, yes! He—the janitor—knew whose offices were exactly opposite -Bridgely & Byke’s—they belonged to Lawyer John Woodford.</p> - -<p>With Lawyer John Woodford’s address in his possession, obtained from the -directory, Nick started uptown in search of him.</p> - -<p>He found the lawyer at home, and was pleasantly received.</p> - -<p>Nick inquired about a lady, whom he believed had been in Mr. Woodford’s -office that afternoon about five o’clock, but of whom he had lost all -trace soon after.</p> - -<p>Yes, Mr. Woodford admitted that a woman had called to see him about that -hour. He was out at the time, and his office boy asked her to sit down -and wait.</p> - -<p>She did wait for a little while, when, without saying a word, she passed -hastily out of the office, almost running as she went.</p> - -<p>He had come in a few minutes later when the boy related the circumstance -to him.</p> - -<p>He had no means of knowing whether he had ever seen the lady or not, or -of knowing who she was. She left no name; indeed, left nothing to -identify her but a glove.</p> - -<p>Here the lawyer pulled a lady’s kid glove from his pocket and held it up -before Nick’s eyes.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_44">{44}</a></span></p> - -<p>“She left this behind in her unceremonious departure,” the lawyer said.</p> - -<p>Nick recognized it at once as the mate to the glove which was found -partly on the hand of the dead girl.</p> - -<p>With some reluctance, and apparent misgivings as to the policy, Lawyer -Woodford permitted Nick to take the glove away with him.</p> - -<p>As the detective was about to leave, Woodford seemed to recollect -something, and said:</p> - -<p>“Oh, by the way, perhaps I know who can tell you more about that lady!”</p> - -<p>“Indeed?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. My boy told me that she had scarcely disappeared down the -stairs—she didn’t wait for the elevator—when Mr. Redway, of the firm -of Bridgely & Byke, stepped off the elevator, and inquired for the lady. -He seemed much disappointed when told she was gone.”</p> - -<p>This was intensely interesting news to Nick.</p> - -<p>“Did Redway follow her?” inquired Nick.</p> - -<p>“Why, no. The stupid boy did not tell him she walked or ran downstairs, -else he might have followed her. Do you know, I think she was trying to -avoid Redway. I’d advise you to see Redway.”</p> - -<p>Again Nick examined the directory. This time he looked for the name -“Oscar Gay,” but didn’t find it. The name was not in the New York -Directory for the current year.</p> - -<p>He then turned to the Brooklyn Directory, and found the name, with the -address, on Brooklyn Heights.</p> - -<p>It didn’t take him long to go over to the place, which he found was a -middle-class boarding-house.</p> - -<p>The landlady informed him that Gay had not been a boarder with her for -ten months.</p> - -<p>He went to New York somewhere, but she never learned exactly where.</p> - -<p>“Was there any reason for his leaving?” asked the detective.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_45">{45}</a></span></p> - -<p>“None that I’m sure of. There was a young lady boarding here at the same -time, and we thought they were rather sweet on each other. She left, -too, a few days after him, and I haven’t heard a word of either since.”</p> - -<p>“What was the young woman’s name?”</p> - -<p>“Let’s see: she was a typewriter, and her name was—was—was -Langdon—Estelle Langdon.”</p> - -<p>Though Nick had not discovered Gay’s address by his trip to Brooklyn, he -had obtained information that was almost equally as valuable, and he -went back to New York very much elated.</p> - -<p>He returned to his house to meet with a surprise, which was almost -dumfounding.</p> - -<p>As he entered, his servant said a lady was waiting to see him in the -library.</p> - -<p>He proceeded straightway to receive his visitor.</p> - -<p>She sat in the gloom as Nick entered, and it was not till he had turned -up the light that the surprise came.</p> - -<p>Even then it required ten or fifteen seconds for him to arrive at his -startling discovery.</p> - -<p>The moment his eyes fell upon the face of the woman before him a -conviction forced itself upon him that he had seen her before.</p> - -<p>Then came the more forcible conviction that it was a striking -resemblance and not a recollection of features.</p> - -<p>Her face had almost a counterpart in a younger, smaller countenance on -which he had recently looked.</p> - -<p>It was a twin picture to the portrait of the child in the back of -Redway’s watch—was the face of the woman before him.</p> - -<p>Instantly Nick knew that he was in the presence of Redway’s mysterious -visitor of the afternoon.</p> - -<p>What good luck had sent her to him?</p> - -<p>“You have been waiting to see me?” said Nick, inquiringly.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_46">{46}</a></span></p> - -<p>“If you are the detective, Nick Carter, I have,” was her reply, as she -looked intently into his face.</p> - -<p>“Well, I am Nick Carter, at your service.”</p> - -<p>“I have heard of your great professional skill, sir, and have come to -seek your help in a case that to me has recently become more than a -matter of life and death. I am rich, and can pay you well for your -services.”</p> - -<p>“What is the nature of these services?”</p> - -<p>“To find my child.”</p> - -<p>“I thought so,” was Nick’s mental response.</p> - -<p>“Boy or girl?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“A girl.”</p> - -<p>“How old?”</p> - -<p>“Nearly seven years old.”</p> - -<p>“Are you a widow?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir,” with a flush. “My husband is alive.”</p> - -<p>“But you don’t live with him?”</p> - -<p>“I do not. We have not lived together for five years.”</p> - -<p>“And he has your child hidden away?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“What is your name?”</p> - -<p>“Evelyn Lock.”</p> - -<p>“Have you a picture of the little girl?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir. I haven’t seen her since she was less than two years old.”</p> - -<p>The tears came into her eyes, and a sob broke from her lips as she said -it.</p> - -<p>“Why have you not searched for the child before?”</p> - -<p>“I have, but it was only within the last day or two that I have been -able to locate her—abductor.”</p> - -<p>“Her father, you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“You are not a resident of New York?”</p> - -<p>“No. I am an Englishwoman. My home is Birmingham. The last five years I -have searched the world over with no success, till, by accident, I found -the child’s father here in New York to-day.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_47">{47}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“He knows you are here?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” reluctantly.</p> - -<p>“Is a reconciliation with him impossible?”</p> - -<p>“It is—now.”</p> - -<p>Nick began to fear that he understood the meaning of that last word, -“now.”</p> - -<p>“You say ‘now.’ Were you willing to be reconciled until recently?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; I loved him dearly—never ceased to love him in spite of the fact -that he robbed me of my child, for I know he was cruelly deceived about -me, and had I been guilty of all which he had cause to believe me guilty -of, I would have deserved to lose him, and my child, too.”</p> - -<p>“Why do you say that a reconciliation now is impossible?”</p> - -<p>“I cannot tell you that.”</p> - -<p>“Is the cause on your side or his?”</p> - -<p>“On his.”</p> - -<p>Nick concluded he would now force the situation.</p> - -<p>“You say you do not know how your little girl looks now?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. Remember, I have not seen her for five years.”</p> - -<p>“Then I’ll let you see what she looks like.”</p> - -<p>As Nick spoke he took Redway’s watch from his pocket, opened the back of -the case, and presented to the astonished young woman the portrait of -the sweet face set therein.</p> - -<p>At first she could only gaze at it in utter stupefaction.</p> - -<p>Then, realizing what it meant, she gave a great cry, pressed the -portrait to her lips again and again, and ended all -by—woman-like—fainting.</p> - -<p>Nick caught her just in time to save the watch from slipping from her -grasp. His experience with fainting women was large and varied. The -means of resuscitation were near at hand, and he soon had his fair -visitor back to consciousness.</p> - -<p>Her first question was:<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_48">{48}</a></span></p> - -<p>“Where did you get it?”</p> - -<p>“The watch?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes!”</p> - -<p>“Indirectly from its owner.”</p> - -<p>“From—from——”</p> - -<p>“From Victor Redway. He is your husband, and the father of the missing -child.”</p> - -<p>The woman bent her head in silent assent.</p> - -<p>“Is Victor Redway his real name?”</p> - -<p>“Part of it. The full name is Victor Redway Lock.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes—your married name. What is the little girl’s name.”</p> - -<p>“Estelle Langdon Lock.”</p> - -<p>It was one of those periods in Nick Carter’s life when sudden surprise -nearly struck him dumb.</p> - -<p>What did it mean? This woman’s little girl and the concealed child of -Redway bearing the name of the girl who had so mysteriously met her -death that afternoon.</p> - -<p>As soon as Nick had time to pull his wits together, he inquired:</p> - -<p>“After whom was the child named?”</p> - -<p>“After my aunt—my mother’s only sister.”</p> - -<p>“Where is she now?”</p> - -<p>“She has been dead some six years. She died broken-hearted. Her life and -mine were most wretchedly alike.”</p> - -<p>“How so?”</p> - -<p>“Her husband deserted her, taking their only child, a girl, away with -him.”</p> - -<p>“Where did they go?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. They disappeared, were never heard of again, and I -suppose both are dead.”</p> - -<p>“Why did the girl go with the father and desert the mother?”</p> - -<p>“She was her father’s idol, and he hers. She took his side of the -quarrel.”</p> - -<p>“What was her name?”</p> - -<p>“Same as her mother—Estelle. But what has all this to do with my -child?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_49">{49}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“More, much more, than you suspect, madame,” replied Nick, firmly.</p> - -<p>“In what way—explain?”</p> - -<p>“Presently. You recognize the portrait of your child in that watch?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes! May I keep the watch?”</p> - -<p>“If you answer me truly two questions.”</p> - -<p>“Ask them.”</p> - -<p>Nick produced the glove which had been taken from the dead girl’s hand, -and held it up before her.</p> - -<p>“Is this your glove?”</p> - -<p>She turned pale, but answered firmly and promptly:</p> - -<p>“It is. Where——”</p> - -<p>“And this one, too?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir; that, too. Where did you get them?”</p> - -<p>“This one,” designating the first one, “was found in the private office -of Victor Redway this evening.</p> - -<p>“This one,” elevating the other glove, “was dropped in the law office of -John Woodford, just across the street from Redway’s office.”</p> - -<p>The woman had turned deadly pale, and Nick thought once she would faint -again. So he gave her time to rally, which she did quite bravely. Then -he went on:</p> - -<p>“When you dropped the last glove in Woodford’s office you were sitting -at his window watching a scene going on in Redway’s office, just across -the street.</p> - -<p>“In that scene a girl in Redway’s office was trying to get this other -glove, the mate, on her left hand.”</p> - -<p>Nick paused long enough to make his recital the more dramatic.</p> - -<p>“While she was thus engaged, and while you were watching her, somebody -killed her, shot her—murdered her in cowardly, cold blood.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lock sat as if chiseled from stone. If she had the power of speech, -she made no<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_50">{50}</a></span> attempt to use it. So Nick concluded the dramatic -situation.</p> - -<p>“You do not know who that girl was, but I believe you do know who fired -the shot which deprived her of life.</p> - -<p>“Now, I am going to tell you who the victim was, and then I’ll ask you -to tell me who was the assassin.</p> - -<p>“You did not recognize the girl, I suppose?”</p> - -<p>A negative shake of the head was the only response.</p> - -<p>“But you begin to suspect.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, my God!” came the response, in a whispering gasp.</p> - -<p>“The girl whom you saw murdered was our cousin, Estelle Langdon. Now, -who was it that fired the shot?”</p> - -<p>The answer came almost as Nick expected.</p> - -<p>For the second time Mrs. Lock lost consciousness. She had fainted again.</p> - -<h2><a id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /><br /> -<small>A HUSBAND’S LOVE.</small></h2> - -<p>When Mrs. Lock had once more regained consciousness, Nick gave her a -stimulant, and let her have plenty of time to come into full possession -of her reasoning faculties before he pressed her further about what she -had seen from Lawyer Woodford’s window.</p> - -<p>When he did resume the subject, it was by saying:</p> - -<p>“Take time to think the situation over seriously, Mrs. Lock, and then -give me your answer.”</p> - -<p>“I can give you your answer now,” she replied, in a voice which was weak -and trembling. “All the answer I have to give?”</p> - -<p>“By telling me what you saw from Lawyer Woodford’s window.”</p> - -<p>“I do not admit that I saw anything from Lawyer Woodford’s window.”</p> - -<p>“But you saw something. You were there when the shot was fired which -killed your<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_51">{51}</a></span> cousin. You are probably the only living witness who saw -the deed done.”</p> - -<p>“Ah! And yet you expect me to admit it, and tell what I am supposed to -have seen?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“And why do you think I would do so, if it was as you suppose?”</p> - -<p>“Not if it was as I suppose, but as I know. I’ll tell you why I not only -think but feel sure you’ll conceal nothing from me.”</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“Because you’ll do anything to save your husband.”</p> - -<p>“To <i>save</i> him?”</p> - -<p>The emphasis which she put on the word “save” was a full confession to -the astute detective. She realized it almost as soon as the three words -were uttered.</p> - -<p>But Nick’s next sentence somewhat relieved her mind, as well as -mystified her.</p> - -<p>“You think you saw him kill Estelle Langdon?”</p> - -<p>“I <i>think</i> I saw him. Why——”</p> - -<p>Again an accented word had made a confession, and she once more halted -in confusion.</p> - -<p>“I am anxious to get at the bottom of a conspiracy of some kind, and I -can do it by having the benefit of your statement of just what happened -in that room as you saw it from across the street.”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Carter, you say this to trap me.”</p> - -<p>“As Heaven is my judge, Mrs. Lock, I do not.”</p> - -<p>“You believe my husband is innocent of that crime?”</p> - -<p>“I am sure of it, but circumstances are against him now.”</p> - -<p>“They say, Mr. Carter, that you are the soul of honor.”</p> - -<p>“If I have that reputation it is earned, and you may rely on it that I -will not sacrifice it at your expense, Mrs. Lock.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_52">{52}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“It seems almost inexplicable to me, but something prompts me to trust -you.”</p> - -<p>“I do not believe you will ever regret it, if you do.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll do it,” with a great sigh, as if of relief. “Yet the first -statement I make must seem like sending the man I love to his death.”</p> - -<p>“You believe you saw your husband fire the shot that killed Estelle -Langdon?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“There was nothing to obstruct your view?”</p> - -<p>“No—nothing.”</p> - -<p>“You were seen to draw back from the window and partly conceal yourself. -Why did you do that?”</p> - -<p>“Because I supposed I had been seen by Victor, and it was what I wanted -to avoid.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, ha! Now, we are getting onto interesting ground. You did not go to -Woodford’s office, then, for the purpose of spying upon your husband?”</p> - -<p>“Surely not. I did not know Woodford’s window commanded a view of -Victor’s office until I saw him come into the room where the girl sat.”</p> - -<p>“Why did you go to Woodford’s?”</p> - -<p>“To ask his advice and aid.”</p> - -<p>“In what?”</p> - -<p>“In an attempt at reconciliation with my husband, or to gain possession -of my little girl. I thought I had made some progress in my interview -with Victor, and I sorely needed advice.”</p> - -<p>“How did it happen you went to Woodford?”</p> - -<p>“I met him at Newport. When he heard I was practically friendless in -America, he gave me his office card and gallantly offered to assist me, -if I ever needed his aid. I had the card with me, and went to the -address.”</p> - -<p>“Redway says he saw you as far as the elevated station?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_53">{53}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“So he did, but I left the station without taking the train and went to -hunt up Mr. Woodford.”</p> - -<p>“Had you no other friend to whom you could go for advice and aid—one -you knew better?”</p> - -<p>“One I knew better? Yes. But not one whom I thought I could trust, -especially in this particular case.”</p> - -<p>“Why not in this particular case?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lock showed a little confusion, while she frankly replied:</p> - -<p>“Because the gentleman to whom I had become somewhat attached in a -friendly way, and to whom I gave my confidence, has lately shown a -disposition too much like that of a lover; indeed, he has gone to such -an extent as to propose divorce and then marriage.”</p> - -<p>“That is quite interesting.”</p> - -<p>“He has even tempted me with the promise to find and restore to me my -child, if I would reward him by eloping with him to some European -country.”</p> - -<p>Nick was becoming intensely interested.</p> - -<p>“Of course I could not go to him for advice or aid in the case as you -understand it, Mr. Carter.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not, Mrs. Lock. What is this—er—gentleman’s name?”</p> - -<p>“Oscar Gay.”</p> - -<p>It required all of the great detective’s powers of control to conceal -from Mrs. Lock the intense satisfaction which the information gave him.</p> - -<p>“How did you come to know this Gay?”</p> - -<p>“We board at the same place on West Forty-sixth street.”</p> - -<p>“What is his business?”</p> - -<p>“He’s a lawyer.”</p> - -<p>“Where is his office?”</p> - -<p>“That I don’t know.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” muttered Nick.</p> - -<p>“Now, then, Mrs. Lock, you thought you saw your husband shoot that -girl?<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_54">{54}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“God help me! Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Describe exactly what you saw.”</p> - -<p>“When I first went to the window, and sat down in plain view, I did not -notice the office on the opposite side of the street.</p> - -<p>“The boy said Mr. Woodford would not be gone ten minutes, and I looked -at my watch to see whether he told the truth.”</p> - -<p>“Good!” exclaimed Nick. “What time was it?”</p> - -<p>“Three minutes to five o’clock.”</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“As I put my watch away, I looked across the street into the opposite -window.”</p> - -<p>“What did you see?”</p> - -<p>“My husband and a girl, seemingly in some controversy. At that moment -Victor looked across and saw me.</p> - -<p>“That was when I drew back into partial concealment.</p> - -<p>“Almost immediately afterward Victor crossed the room, and left by an -opposite door. The girl sat down in a chair by a desk, and began to put -on a glove.</p> - -<p>“Scarcely two minutes had passed, when, to my surprise, I saw my husband -walk back into the office from the opposite door.</p> - -<p>“He came straight over toward the window, and seemed to be looking -across at my window just for a moment.</p> - -<p>“For an instant he disappeared from my view. In a few moments he came -directly in front of the window. I saw he had a pistol in his hand.</p> - -<p>“The girl was still busy with the glove. Without warning, he took -deliberate aim, and fired. The girl fell back in the chair, and her head -dropped forward on her chest.”</p> - -<p>“And he?”</p> - -<p>“Why, he seemed to glance over toward my window, presenting his full -face. Then he disappeared on the side of the window whence he came when -he produced the pistol.</p> - -<p>“Almost directly after, he crossed the room<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_55">{55}</a></span> once more, and again -disappeared through the door by which he had entered.</p> - -<p>“Then I rushed out of Mr. Woodford’s office.</p> - -<p>“In my dire distress and anxiety to get my child away from him I came to -you, having heard that you scarcely ever failed in work intrusted to -your care.”</p> - -<p>“Well, you did the best thing you ever did in your life, Mrs. Lock, when -you came to me.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“Because you’ll save your husband’s honor, if not his life, and I think -will regain not only your child, but his love also.”</p> - -<p>“My God! Do not taunt me!”</p> - -<p>“I speak the truth, Mrs. Lock. The man whom you saw commit the crime was -not your husband.”</p> - -<p>“Not my husband? Why, the clothes—that long, blonde mustache—the -light, long hair—surely——”</p> - -<p>“The clothes were a duplicate suit. The hair and mustache were false. -The assassin was a well-arranged double of your husband, who took pains -that you should see the deed done.</p> - -<p>“There was a screen setting close by the window which could easily have -been pushed across to shut off your view. But it wasn’t.”</p> - -<p>“Why are you so sure it was a double—a disguised man who did the deed?”</p> - -<p>“First, because the proof is clear that the crime was done with a full -knowledge by the murderer that you saw it, and with due care that you -should see it.”</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“Your husband, if capable of murder, would surely not have an object in -doing it before your eyes, but on the contrary.</p> - -<p>“Then you saw your husband leave the room at about two minutes before -five?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“I have the testimony of the elevator-boy<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_56">{56}</a></span> that he went right to the -elevator, and descended to the street.”</p> - -<p>“Go on, please.”</p> - -<p>“It would take him some time to go around to the building in which -Woodford’s offices are situated, probably five minutes.”</p> - -<p>“Go on—go on!”</p> - -<p>“He did go around, however, for Mr. Woodford said his boy told him that -Redway came to the door and inquired for you almost before you had been -gone ten seconds. You did not leave by the elevator?”</p> - -<p>“No. I was so excited I rushed down the stairs.”</p> - -<p>“And he stepped out of the elevator while you were on the stairs going -down.”</p> - -<p>“Good Heaven!”</p> - -<p>“So, you see, your husband can prove a perfect alibi. The deed was done -while he was going from his office to Woodford’s.”</p> - -<p>“Has he furnished you with this proof?”</p> - -<p>“No; he has gone to jail without a word of defense. When he returned, he -found the girl dead.</p> - -<p>“He then placed her body on the desk, with one arm near her head, and -the other hanging by her side. Under this hand he placed his pistol.”</p> - -<p>“How do you know?”</p> - -<p>“Because you say the assassin left the body leaning back in the chair. -It was found in a different position.</p> - -<p>“Because, according to your testimony, the assassin got the pistol from -the desk where Redway kept it, and put it back there when he had -finished his work.”</p> - -<p>“Why did Victor arrange the position of the body that way, and place the -pistol under the hand?”</p> - -<p>“To suggest suicide, and to shield the assassin. When the suicide theory -would not hold, he was willing to be thought guilty rather than say a -word to throw suspicion on the person he firmly believes killed Estelle -Langdon.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_57">{57}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“What person?”</p> - -<p>“You. He believes you shot her from your position across the street and -fled. The position of the body, and the wound, certainly gave that -impression; for who could believe that the assassin would take a -position in front of a public window to fire the shot?”</p> - -<p>“And he did this—for me?”</p> - -<p>“Can a man prove his love more completely?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lock let her face fall into her hands, while the hot tears trickled -from between her fingers, and she sobbed:</p> - -<p>“Oh, Victor, Victor!”</p> - -<p>Nick let her alone in her weeping.</p> - -<p>When she finally dried her eyes and looked up, he asked:</p> - -<p>“Have you—do you own a pistol, Mrs. Lock?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“And had it with you this afternoon?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. How did you know?”</p> - -<p>“Shrewdly guessed it. Redway knew you had it?”</p> - -<p>“He did?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lock’s face flushed, and Nick did not ask her to tell him how -Redway knew it.</p> - -<p>He took Redway’s pistol from his pocket, and showed it to her.</p> - -<p>“Is your pistol like this?”</p> - -<p>“It is a duplicate. Victor bought the two at the same time. Mine has his -initials on it, and his has mine.”</p> - -<p>“Then he thought there would be no danger of the bullet and his pistol -not corresponding,” smiled Nick.</p> - -<p>“Who could the disguised assassin have been?”</p> - -<p>“Can’t you guess?”</p> - -<p>“I guess? Why, who do I know—surely not——”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Oscar Gay.”</p> - -<p>“Merciful Heaven! What was his object?”</p> - -<p>“First, to get rid of a wife.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_58">{58}</a></span>”</p> - -<p>“A wife?”</p> - -<p>“He and your cousin, I think we’ll find, were privately married. By -fixing the crime on Redway, he would remove your husband. In that way he -expected to free himself and you, and make his marriage with you easy.”</p> - -<p>“But I never would have married him.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t be too sure.”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t love him.”</p> - -<p>“But you loved your child?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes!”</p> - -<p>“I am willing to risk my professional reputation on the guess that he -has the little girl’s whereabouts in his possession, and would have used -her to get your consent to become his wife.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lock shuddered.</p> - -<p>Just then a knock came to the door. The servant announced that Miss Ida -had returned and wished to report.</p> - -<p>“Admit her,” was Nick’s command.</p> - -<h2><a id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /><br /> -<small>CHICK SUPPLIES THE FINAL PROOF.</small></h2> - -<p>Ida was introduced to Mrs. Lock, and then she proceeded to make her -report.</p> - -<p>She had visited the dead girl’s boarding-place in Harlem, where she -learned that Estelle was in the habit of spending the night elsewhere, -occasionally at the house of an aunt somewhere in the suburbs, it was -understood.</p> - -<p>She had gone away the night previous to remain with this aunt, but -returned unexpectedly quite late. She told her room-mate that her aunt -was not at home.</p> - -<p>For the first time Miss Langdon had a pistol in her possession with her -initials, “E. L.,” engraved on the handle.</p> - -<p>Her room-mate said Estelle explained that she bought the pistol to shoot -cats, which annoyed them, at nights, from the back yards.</p> - -<p>To prove her sincerity, she had gotten up in the night, and fired a shot -at a serenading feline.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_59">{59}</a></span></p> - -<p>Ida’s report was not what Nick hoped it might be, but just as she went -out Chick came in, and he brought news that made Nick’s eyes glisten.</p> - -<p>“I’ve run down my man,” said Chick, in a tone of satisfaction, after -being introduced to Mrs. Lock and told by Nick to go ahead.</p> - -<p>“Let us hear about it,” urged Nick, eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Just as you thought he would, Gay returned to the Borden Building about -eight o’clock.</p> - -<p>“He went up to his office, and came down in disguise.</p> - -<p>“Had it been in day-time, I should never have thought the old chap was -Gay.”</p> - -<p>“The old chap?”</p> - -<p>“He was disguised as an old man.”</p> - -<p>Nick instantly recalled the circumstance of the old man who had inquired -of the elevator-boy for the offices of Bridgely & Byke.</p> - -<p>The detective had no doubt now that Gay had returned to the building in -that disguise, and got into Byke’s private office, where he had been -hidden all day, hearing and seeing that which went on in Redway’s -office.</p> - -<p>“I followed him to a room on the Bowery. He was in that room about -twenty minutes. When he came out, he was again in disguise, but the -nature of the masquerade this time made my task of identification easy.”</p> - -<p>“What was it this time?”</p> - -<p>“An almost perfect counterpart of Victor Redway as you described him to -me.</p> - -<p>“He had a cab waiting at the sidewalk. I suspected that the cab was -there for his use, and I had one ready to follow. He lost no time in -getting over to Brooklyn. I didn’t lose him <i>en route</i>.</p> - -<p>“He drove to a house on Atlantic avenue, and went in. When he came out, -he had a little girl with him whom he handed into the cab, got in after -her, and was driven away.”</p> - -<p>“A little girl!” gasped Mrs. Lock, with a hand pressed to her heart.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_60">{60}</a></span></p> - -<p>“The original of the picture in Redway’s watch,” said Chick.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Heavens! My child—Estelle!”</p> - -<p>“Do not get excited, Mrs. Lock,” cautioned Nick. “The little girl will -not be harmed, and will be safely in your arms in good time.”</p> - -<p>“But, sir, she is in his hands—in the hands of a murderer.”</p> - -<p>“He will not harm a hair of her head. She is too important for the -successful carrying out of his plans.”</p> - -<p>“Well, disguised as Victor Redway, he had no trouble in getting the -little girl away from the people in whose charge her father had placed -her.</p> - -<p>“He had, evidently dogged Redway’s steps and thus found out the girl’s -hiding-place after you confided your story to him.”</p> - -<p>“What does he intend to do with her?”</p> - -<p>“Hide her away till Redway shall be out of his path. Then make her the -price of your marriage to him.”</p> - -<p>“I have the hiding-place located,” said Chick.</p> - -<p>“Where is it?”</p> - -<p>“On Ninth avenue, with Granny Grimes.”</p> - -<p>“Well, he has a seasoned old wretch for a jailer, that’s certain.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, what shall I do?” moaned Mrs. Lock.</p> - -<p>“Do? Why, you must not return to your boarding-house. Your change of -feeling toward Gay might arouse his suspicions.”</p> - -<p>“Then where shall I go?”</p> - -<p>“Suppose you stay here as the guest of Mrs. Carter till to-morrow -morning?”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lock consented to Nick’s arrangements, and while Mrs. Carter and -Ida were making her as comfortable as possible Nick and Chick went out -on a little private business.</p> - -<p>At exactly midnight the Tombs received another prisoner.</p> - -<p>Oscar Gay, looking like a walking corpse, was led into the gloomy -prison, and securely locked into a cell in murderer’s row.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_61">{61}</a></span></p> - -<p>Next morning he was found dead on his cot.</p> - -<p>No one will ever know where he had concealed the poison which ended his -miserable life; for Nick and Chick had searched him carefully before -they locked him up.</p> - -<p>When Redway was released, he made a full explanation.</p> - -<p>Nick’s deductions had been almost entirely correct.</p> - -<p>When Redway found the dead girl collapsed in her chair on his return -from the unsuccessful attempt to see his wife in Woodford’s office, he -became convinced that Evelyn had fired the deadly shot.</p> - -<p>The position of the body, and the nature of the wound, confirmed him in -his belief.</p> - -<p>He examined his pistol, which he found in the drawer where he had placed -it that morning when Miss Langdon returned it to him. She gave it to him -with one chamber empty, and he had found it with one chamber empty. So -he naturally concluded it had not been discharged since the night -before.</p> - -<p>He did not know that in his absence that forenoon Miss Langdon must have -put a cartridge in the empty cylinder.</p> - -<p>When Redway “planted” the pistol beneath the dead girl’s hand he -supposed the empty chamber was the same from which she had discharged -the shot at the cat.</p> - -<p>It turned out that Gay secured Miss Langdon her position with Bridgely & -Byke; also that Redway at once recognized her as his wife’s cousin, but -to keep his own identity a secret, did not let her know of his -relationship to her, after having tested her with a suppositional story -of a client, which was really his wife’s story.</p> - -<p>Miss Langdon had recognized her cousin when the latter left Redway’s -office that afternoon. For some reason she associated Mrs. Lock’s visit -with Gay, because she had heard her give Redway her address, which she -knew was Gay’s boarding-place. She was in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_62">{62}</a></span>sanely jealous of Gay, and -suspected him of treachery.</p> - -<p>In that loud interview with Redway, after he returned from seeing Mrs. -Lock to the elevated station, Estelle admitted that she had borrowed his -pistol—which had formerly been a present from Redway to his wife, “E. -L.”—to kill Gay the night before, and then herself, if he refused to -absolve from her oath, not to betray their relationship by word or act -till he gave his consent.</p> - -<p>He had failed to meet her, however, at their secret tryst, and had -avoided her next day.</p> - -<p>Nick believes she had sent for him to have Gay’s footsteps dogged.</p> - -<p>Gay, in his concealment, heard her threats against his life, and also -overheard all that passed between Redway and Evelyn. He foresaw final -reconciliation between the couple, and knew that he could only win by -sudden and desperate steps.</p> - -<p>Fortune seemed to favor him. When he saw Mrs. Lock in the window -opposite, and heard Redway leave the office, his impulse carried him -away. In a flash he had assumed Redway’s disguise, slipped out into the -hall, and entered through the large office to Redway’s room, where he -coolly killed his victim before the eyes of the woman he was willing to -sell his soul to possess.</p> - -<p>Thence he walked downstairs, and went to his room on the Bowery, taking -many chances of meeting the real Redway on the way.</p> - -<p>In his Bowery den, he changed once more to his everyday stylish clothes, -and returned to the building to confront Redway.</p> - -<p>His original design in duplicating Redway’s clothes, and getting the -false wig and mustache which made him so true a double, must have been -to get possession of little Estelle in the manner which he so suddenly -put into practice.</p> - -<p>Victor Redway Lock and Evelyn Lock<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_63">{63}</a></span> were restored to each other’s love -and confidence.</p> - -<p>Their lives were so thoroughly reunited that no more false reports of -malicious enemies can ever part them again.</p> - -<p>Chick found little Estelle unharmed in Granny Grimes’s miserable -lodgings, and placed the child in the arms of the mother she had almost -forgotten.</p> - -<p>The happy little family are living peacefully and quietly on their -lovely English estate.</p> - -<p>They never tire of talking about Nick Carter’s wonderful professional -skill in saving them from the almost successful plots of Oscar Gay.</p> - -<p class="fint">THE END.</p> - -<p>The next number of the <span class="smcap">Nick Carter Weekly</span> will contain “The Best -Detective in the Country; or, A Prompt Reply to a Telegram.”</p> - -<p class="cb"><img src="images/barr.png" -width="300" -alt="————————————" -/></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page_64">{64}</a></span></p> - -<p class="cb">LATEST ISSUES.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>187—The Best Detective in the Country; or, A Prompt Reply to a -Telegram.</p> - -<p>186—Nick Carter Rescues a Daughter; or, The Junior Partner’s -Strange Behavior.</p> - -<p>185—Nick Carter Saves a Reputation; or, A Button Worth a Fortune.</p> - -<p>184—Shielding a Murderer; or, Nick Carter’s Dealings with an -Avenger.</p> - -<p>183—Saved from the Penitentiary; or, Three Cheers for Nick Carter.</p> - -<p>182—The Blood-Stained Check; or, Nick Carter in the -Dissecting-Room.</p> - -<p>181—In the Clutch of the Law; or, Nick Carter’s Chain of Evidence.</p> - -<p>180—The Government Custom’s Swindle; or, Nick Carter’s Work for -the U. S. Treasury.</p> - -<p>179—Nick Carter’s Beautiful Decoy; or, The Diamond Duke of -Chicago.</p> - -<p>178—Nick Carter Arrests a Client; or, The Body Found in the Flat.</p> - -<p>177—Nick Carter’s Dumb Assistant; or, The Man with a Dead Brain.</p> - -<p>176—Nick Carter Behind the Counter; or, A Peck of Pawn Tickets.</p> - -<p>175—Nick Carter’s Pointer; or, A Hungry Dog’s Dinner.</p> - -<p>174—By Whose Hand; or, Nick Carter Advertises for a Cab-Driver.</p> - -<p>173—Caught in Six Hours; or, Trouble in Room No. 46.</p> - -<p>172—Burglar Joe; or, Nick Carter’s Leap in the Dark.</p> - -<p>171—Nick Carter’s Little Shadow; or, The Man with the Yellow Dog.</p> - -<p>170—Caught by Electricity; or, Nick Carter Bags an Old Offender.</p> - -<p>169—Unmasked by Nick Carter; or, An Attempt at Blackmail.</p> - -<p>168—Nick Carter’s Second Sight; or, A Dumfounded Prisoner.</p> - -<p>167—Nick Carter Makes a Loan That Brings Him Big Returns.</p> - -<p>166—Nick Carter Prevents a Disturbance, and Loses a Disguise.</p> - -<p>165—Nick Carter in a Hole; or, A Plan to Catch Him That Didn’t -Work.</p></div> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>Back numbers always on hand. If you cannot get our publications -from your newsdealer, five cents a copy will bring them to you by -mail, postpaid.</p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page_65">{65}</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<h2><span class="cbig250">THE MEDAL LIBRARY.</span><br /><br /> -<b>Oliver Optic and Others. The Right Books at the Right Price.</b></h2> - -<p>There is a line of classics for youth—the books your fathers read—the -books you want to read—the books the boys and girls will read and like -as long as the English language endures. They have done more to shape -the mind of American boys for the last fifty years than any others. We -refer to the writings of Oliver Optic, Horatio Alger, Edward S. Ellis, -Lieut. Lounsberry, James Otis, William Murray Graydon, etc. These names -are familiar wherever the American flag floats.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately, they have heretofore been procurable only in expensive -binding at from $1.00 to $1.50 each. The average boy has not got $1.50 -to invest. Ten cents is nearer his price. We have made the ten cent book -the leader with the elder readers. Now we are going to do the same thing -for the boys, and give them their favorites in a form in every respect -equal to our well-known Eagle and Magnet Libraries, at the uniform price -of ten cents. Thousands of boys have asked us to issue this line. -Thousands more are ready to buy it on sight. There is no line like it in -the world. We can justly call it the Medal series, as every book will be -a prize winner. It will contain no story that the boys have not approved -as a “standard.” They have bought them by the thousands at $1.00 and -upwards, and now they can get them for TEN CENTS A COPY.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_66">{66}</a></span></p> - -<table> -<tr><td>63—In the Sunk Lands</td><td class="rt">Walter F. Burns</td></tr> -<tr><td>62—How He Won</td><td class="rt">Brooks McCormick</td></tr> -<tr><td>61—The Erie Train Boy</td><td class="rt">Horatio Alger, Jr.</td></tr> -<tr><td>60—The Mountain Cave</td><td class="rt">George H. Coomer</td></tr> -<tr><td>59—The Rajah’s Fortress</td><td class="rt">William Murray Graydon</td></tr> -<tr><td>58—Gilbert, the Trapper</td><td class="rt">Capt. C. B. Ashley</td></tr> -<tr><td>57—The Gold of Flat Top Mountain</td><td class="rt">Frank H. Converse</td></tr> -<tr><td>56—Nature’s Young Noblemen</td><td class="rt">Brooks McCormick</td></tr> -<tr><td>55—A Voyage to the Gold Coast</td><td class="rt">Frank H. Converse</td></tr> -<tr><td>54—Joe Nichols; or, Difficulties Overcome</td><td class="rt">Alfred Oldfellow</td></tr> -<tr><td>53—The adventures of a New York Telegraph Boy</td><td class="rt">Arthur Lee Putnam</td></tr> -<tr><td>52—From Farm Boy to Senator</td><td class="rt">Horatio Alger, Jr.</td></tr> -<tr><td>51—Tom Tracy</td><td class="rt">Arthur Lee Putnam</td></tr> -<tr><td>50—Dean Dunham</td><td class="rt">Horatio Alger, Jr.</td></tr> -<tr><td>49—The Mystery of a Diamond</td><td class="rt">Frank H. Converse</td></tr> -<tr><td>48—Luke Bennett’s Hide-Out</td><td class="rt">Capt. C. B. Ashley, U. S. Scout</td></tr> -<tr><td>47—Eric Dane</td><td class="rt">Matthew White, Jr.</td></tr> -<tr><td>46—Poor and Proud</td><td class="rt">Oliver Optic</td></tr> -<tr><td>45—Jack Wheeler: A Western Story</td><td class="rt">Captain David Southwick</td></tr> -<tr><td>44—The Golden Magnet</td><td class="rt">George Manville Fenn</td></tr> -<tr><td>43—In Southern Seas</td><td class="rt">Frank H. Converse</td></tr> -<tr><td>42—The Young Acrobat</td><td class="rt">Horatio Alger, Jr.</td></tr> -<tr><td>41—Check 2134</td><td class="rt">Edward S. Ellis</td></tr> -<tr><td>40—Canoe and Campfire</td><td class="rt">St. George Rathborne</td></tr> -<tr><td>39—With Boer and Britisher in the Transvaal</td><td class="rt">William Murray Graydon</td></tr> -<tr><td>38—Gay Dashleigh’s Academy Days</td><td class="rt">Arthur Sewall</td></tr> -<tr><td>37—Commodore Junk</td><td class="rt">George Manvlle Fenn</td></tr> -<tr><td>36—In Barracks and Wigwam</td><td class="rt">William Murray Graydon</td></tr> -<tr><td>35—In the Reign of Terror</td><td class="rt">G. A. Henty -<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_67">{67}</a></span></td></tr> -<tr><td>34—The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green</td><td class="rt">Cuthbert Bede, B. A.</td></tr> -<tr><td>33—Jud and Joe, Printers and Publishers</td><td class="rt">Gilbert Patten</td></tr> -<tr><td>32—The Curse of Carnes’ Hold</td><td class="rt">G. A. Henty</td></tr> -<tr><td>31—The Cruise of the Snow Bird</td><td class="rt">Gordon Stables</td></tr> -<tr><td>30—Peter Simple</td><td class="rt">Captain Marryat</td></tr> -<tr><td>29—True to the Old Flag</td><td class="rt">G. A. Henty</td></tr> -<tr><td>28—The Boy Boomers</td><td class="rt">Gilbert Patten</td></tr> -<tr><td>27—Centre-Board Jim</td><td class="rt">Lieut. Lionel Lounsberry</td></tr> -<tr><td>26—The Cryptogram</td><td class="rt">William Murray Graydon</td></tr> -<tr><td>25—Through the Fray</td><td class="rt">G. A. Henty</td></tr> -<tr><td>24—The Boy from the West</td><td class="rt">Gilbert Patten</td></tr> -<tr><td>23—The Dragon and the Raven</td><td class="rt">G. A. Henty</td></tr> -<tr><td>22—From Lake to Wilderness</td><td class="rt">William Murray Graydon</td></tr> -<tr><td>21—Won at West Point</td><td class="rt">Lieut. Lionel Lounsberry</td></tr> -<tr><td>20—Wheeling for Fortune</td><td class="rt">James Otis</td></tr> -<tr><td>19—Jack Archer</td><td class="rt">G. A. Henty</td></tr> -<tr><td>18—The Silver Ship</td><td class="rt">Leon Lewis</td></tr> -<tr><td>17—Ensign Merrill</td><td class="rt">Lieut. Lionel Lounsberry</td></tr> -<tr><td>16—The White King of Africa</td><td class="rt">William Murray Graydon</td></tr> -<tr><td>15—Midshipman Merrill</td><td class="rt">Lieut. Lionel Lounsberry</td></tr> -<tr><td>14—The Young Colonists: A Story of Life and War in Africa</td><td class="rt">G. A. Henty</td></tr> -<tr><td>13—Up the Ladder</td><td class="rt">Lieut. Murray</td></tr> -<tr><td>12—Don Kirk’s Mine</td><td class="rt">Gilbert Patten</td></tr> -<tr><td>11—From Tent to White House (Boyhood and Life of President McKinley)</td><td class="rt">Edward S. Ellis</td></tr> -<tr><td>10—Don Kirk, the Boy Cattle King</td><td class="rt">Gilbert Patten</td></tr> -<tr><td>9—Try Again</td><td class="rt">Oliver Optic</td></tr> -<tr><td>8—Kit Carey’s Protege</td><td class="rt">Lieut. Lionel Lounsberry</td></tr> -<tr><td>7—Chased Through Norway</td><td class="rt">James Otis</td></tr> -<tr><td>6—Captain Carey of the Gallant Seventh</td><td class="rt">Lieut. Lionel Lounsberry</td></tr> -<tr><td>5—Now or Never</td><td class="rt">Oliver Optic</td></tr> -<tr><td>4—Lieutenant Carey’s Luck</td><td class="rt">Lieut. Lionel Lounsberry</td></tr> -<tr><td>3—All Aboard</td><td class="rt">Oliver Optic</td></tr> -<tr><td>2—Cadet Kit Carey</td><td class="rt">Lieut. Lionel Lounsberry</td></tr> -<tr><td>1—The Boat Club</td><td class="rt">Oliver Optic</td></tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page_68">{68}</a></span></p> - -<p class="cb">OTHERS EQUALLY GOOD TO FOLLOW.</p> - -<p>Order them at once. If you cannot get them send to us. Remember these -are 12mo books, printed from new plates, with elegant covers, and are -the “<i>real thing</i>” and only TEN CENTS A COPY.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_69">{69}</a></span></p> - -<div class="dbox"> -<p class="cbig250">The Tip Top Weekly<br /> -<small><small>AND THE FRANK MERRIWELL STORIES.</small></small></p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang"><b>No modern series of tales for boys and youth has met with anything -like the cordial reception and popularity accorded to the Frank -Merriwell Stories, published in Street & Smith’s TIP TOP WEEKLY, a -publication which has to-day a circulation larger than that of all -similar publications combined. There must be a reason for this, and -there is. Frank Merriwell, as portrayed by the author, is a jolly, -wholesouled, honest, courageous American lad, who appeals to the -hearts of the boys. He has no bad habits, and his manliness -inculcates the idea that it is not necessary for a boy to indulge -in petty vices to be a hero. Frank Merriwell’s example is a shining -light for every ambitious lad to follow.</b></p></div> - -<p class="c"><span class="smcap">The following are the Latest Issues</span>:</p> - -<p class="nind"> -207—Frank Merriwell’s Influence; or, Inza, the Mascot of the Crew.<br /> -208—Frank Merriwell’s Theory; or, A Fight for a Friend.<br /> -209—Frank Merriwell’s Five; or, Old Friends at Yale.<br /> -210—Frank Merriwell’s Honor; or, The Nobility of Badger.<br /> -211—Frank Merriwell’s Reward; or, Buck Badger’s Humiliation.<br /> -212—Frank Merriwell’s Football; or, the Disappearance of Jack Ready.<br /> -213—Frank Merriwell’s Handicap; or, The Heroism of Elsie.<br /> -214—Frank Merriwell’s Stroke; or, The Test of Friendship.<br /> -215—Frank Merriwell’s Favor; or, True as Steel.<br /> -216—Frank Merriwell’s Phantom; or, The Ghost of Barney Mulloy.<br /> -217—Frank Merriwell’s “Pull;” or, True and Tried.<br /> -218—Frank Merriwell’s “Liner;” or, Elsie, the Mascot of the Nine.<br /> -219—Frank Merriwell’s Compact; or, The Triumph of Badger.<br /> -220—Frank Merriwell’s Curves; or, Clipping the Tiger’s Claws.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="c"> -ISSUED EVERY FRIDAY. <span style="margin-left: 2em; -margin-right:2em;">5c. PER COPY. </span> 32 PAGES AND ILLUMINATED COVER.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="page_70">{70}</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="c"><i>MORE LIBRARIES TO SUIT “TIP TOP” READERS.</i><br /><br /> -<span class="cbig250">The Do and Dare Weekly</span><br /><br /> -PHIL RUSHINGTON, THE ACTOR-MANAGER.</p> - -<p><b>The “Do and Dare Weekly” tells of the exploits and adventures of one -PHIL RUSHINGTON, a lively, hustling, bright and brave American boy—a -first-class all-round athlete, and a thorough gentleman in all the -phases of his eventful career. The author of these stories is MR. -STANLEY NORRIS, an able writer, and one thoroughly in sympathy with the -wants of our boys and girls in the line of reading. His work is bound to -please.</b></p> - -<p><i>The following are the latest issues</i>:</p> - -<p> -11—Phil Rushington’s Great Show; or, Another Whirl of Fortune’s Wheel.<br /> -12—Phil Rushington’s Star Rider; or, Rivals of the Ring.<br /> -13—Phil Rushington’s Home Trip; or, Two Kinds of a Circus.<br /> -14—Phil Rushington’s Loss; or, A Lion Hunt in the City.<br /> -15—Phil Rushington’s Rivals; or, Three Shows in One Town.<br /> -16—Phil Rushington’s Clown; or, The Secret of the Star Rider.<br /> -17—Phil Rushington’s Temptation; or, An Act Not Down on the Bills.<br /> -18—Phil Rushington’s Race; or, The Pursuit of the Rival Circus.<br /> -19—Phil Rushington’s Prize; or, The Show for Tent Number Two.<br /> -20—Phil Rushington’s Search; or, The Unknown Rider of the Ring.<br /> -</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p><i>The “Do and Dare Weekly” appears every Tuesday. 32 pages, -illuminated cover, uniform in size and style with “Tip Top.”</i></p></div><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page_71">{71}</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<h2><span class="cbig250">“Comrades”</span><br /><br /> -<b>THE BEST RAILROAD STORIES EVER WRITTEN.</b></h2> - -<p class="c"> -<b>TOM WRIGHT, the hero of “Comrades,” is a bright boy who has decided to devote his life to the service of “King<br /> -Steam” in one of the great railroads of our land. Rest assured he will reach fame and fortune on the lightning<br /> -express. The life of an ambitious railroad man is full of exciting incident, and Tom has his full share of adventures.<br /> -Through all of these, he will be found <i>Wright</i> by name, <i>right</i> in word, <i>right</i> in deed, and<br /> -<i>always right</i>. The many adventures of Tom and his friends will be followed with the deepest<br /> -interest by all who are fortunate enough to read this new series of splendid stories. Tom is<br /> -surrounded by several “comrades,” who join hands with him and stand by him in his various<br /> -enterprises. MR. ROBERT STEEL is an author of wide experience in the field covered<br /> -by these stories, and his work will please all who admire the well-known “Tip Top<br /> -Weekly” and “Do and Dare Weekly,” to which “Comrades” will be a companion.</b> -</p> - -<p class="nind"> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">6—Tom Wright’s Fast Run; or, The Million Dollar Train.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">7—Tom Wright’s Choice; or, The Engineer’s Strange Warning.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">8—Tom Wright on the Flyer; or, The Missing Express Package.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">9—Tom Wright’s Resolve; or, A Railroad Chum’s Noble Sacrifice.</span><br /> -10—Tom Wright on Duty; or, A Battle Against Railroad Crooks.<br /> -11—Tom Wright’s Substitute; or, The Dumb Flagman at Dead Man’s Curve.<br /> -12—Tom Wright in Demand; or, A Mile a Minute in a Private Car.<br /> -13—Tom Wright’s Right-of-Way; or, Stealing a March on the Enemy.<br /> -14—Tom Wright Misjudged; or, Called Down by the Company.<br /> -15—Tom Wright Switched Off; or, A New Start on a New Railroad.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="cb">Remember, “COMRADES” appears every Wednesday—Read it—Price 5c.</p> - -<p class="c">32 pages, illuminated cover, uniform in size and style with “Tip Top.”</p> -</div> - -<table style="padding:2%;border:3px dotted gray;" -id="transcrib"> -<tr><th>Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:</th></tr> -<tr><td> - -<p>Nick’s presecne was=> Nick’s presence was</p> - -<p>Mr. Redwav had loaned=> Mr. Redway had loaned</p> -</td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="full" /> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEW NICK CARTER WEEKLY NO. 186. ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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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