CHAPTER VIII.
PATSY'S STORY AND THE TEST PROPOSED.
"Are you much hurt?" asked Patsy, anxiously.
Nick took in the whole scene before he replied.
Beside the bed were Colonel Richmond, Horace and a man whom Nick rightly judged to be a doctor.
"No," said Nick, "I'm not much hurt, except in my feelings. What happened, Patsy?"
"The ghost got away," responded the young man, in a tone of disgust.
"I wouldn't talk very much," said Colonel Richmond. "The doctor says that you have been subjected to a severe nervous shock, and—"
"My grandmother's ducks!" exclaimed Nick. "Nervous shock! Well, this makes me worse. Why, man, I've been sand-bagged."
The colonel shook his head.
"The power of the unseen forces," he began; but Nick interrupted him.
"Look here, Colonel Richmond!" he said, "if you had the sensation behind your ear that I've got, you wouldn't talk about mysterious powers of darkness. I know what's the matter with me, and what I want is a chance to get square."
"There is no evidence of any injury," said the physician.
"There never is in a case of this kind," rejoined Nick. "A sand-bag doesn't leave any mark. That's why it is so popular."
"It is impossible to convince a stubborn man," said the colonel. "I should think that this experience would have been enough."
"Quite enough, thank you," responded Nick, sitting up. "And so, if you gentlemen who kindly put me to bed will gracefully withdraw I will get into my clothes, and prove to you that I have had enough, and that it is somebody else's turn now."
He made them leave him with Patsy. Then he began to dress.
"Now tell me your story," he said.
"When I jumped for that spook," Patsy began, "I got the fearfulest thump on my crust that I've had since that marline-spike fell off the main yard on to me in the little affair of the Five Kernels of Corn.
"It couldn't have been a marker to what you got afterward, though. I went down, but not out.
"You saw me draw my gun. Well, when you yelled 'Don't fire!' I held off, but when I saw you go out I decided that all orders of that kind were canceled.
"I blazed away; and, Nick, I put five bullets through that figure just as sure as you're an inch high."
"What happened then?"
"The light went out. I got to your side, and flashed your lantern in half a second.
"The figure had vanished. The colonel's lamp stood on the sideboard just where he had put it.
"We had a fair light very soon. I examined you first, and, upon my word, I thought that you were done for.
"We got you up to this room, and Horace Richmond rode off for the doctor.
"From what he said about a nervous shock you can judge how much he knows.
"His help wasn't worth anything. I will back myself against him any day.
"I made sure that you were only stunned, and would come to all right. Then I hurried down to that room and began my search.
"Well, you know that room. It is simply built up of traps and panels. A man can go through the floor or the walls almost anywhere.
"My job would have been a good deal easier if there'd been less of that secret machinery.
"When there are five hundred ways in which a thing could have been done, it's pretty hard to say which one is right.
"There's a trap pretty nearly in the spot where the figure stood. Probably she came up and went down through that.
"But how about my shooting? There's the point.
"I took a direct line from the place where I was to the trap.
"Following that line, I came to the screen in front of the fire-place.
"In that screen, and about four and a half feet from the floor, were three bullets from my pistol. The other two are not there.
"Then, as I figure it out, that ghost has carried them away.
"My shooting was pretty good, considering the light. The three bullets were in the bigness of a watch-crystal.
"I feel sure that the other two were aimed just as well. If that's true, then one of the conspirators has some mighty serious wounds. Three went through her, and she stopped two.
"But there isn't a drop of blood to be found. The passage under the trap I have explored thoroughly.
"I can't find a human being or a trace of blood or any of the machinery which they must have used for the light or the ghost.
"Of course, the failure to find traces of the conspirators is not strange. These passages are so long, and so intricate, and so mighty well gotten up that I haven't had time to go through them all.
"But the wounded person is another matter. Where she is hidden is more than I can imagine."
"I hope it wasn't Miss Stevens," said Nick.
"You called her name."
"Yes; I thought the chances were that it was she, but, of course, I couldn't recognize her in that rig for certain."
"Well, if it was she, of course, we shall find it out. It's impossible for her to carry those two bullets around with her and not show it."
Nick was dressed by this time. They went out into the hall of the new part. Nick had been taken to a room there, instead of being carried to that which had been assigned to him in the old part of the house.
From below came the sound of voices. The colonel, the doctor and Mrs. Pond were talking of the case.
Patsy stopped before a closed door in the upper hall.
A sign from Patsy arrested Nick's attention. He communicated to Nick in their silent language:
"That's Horace's room, isn't it? Whom is he talking with?"
Nick listened. Then he laughed.
"You've fooled yourself there, Patsy," he said. "He's talking to a parrot. It's one of his pets. He has a good many."
Patsy looked a little sheepish.
"You can't blame me, Nick," he said. "We must suspect everybody in such business as this. Isn't that right?"
"Quite right," responded the detective.
They went at once to the old dining-hall. Colonel Richmond presently joined them there.
To him Nick frankly explained all the events of the previous night, including the disguise which he had adopted in order not to appear in the ghost hunt in his own person.
In return the colonel confessed the facts of his visit to the medium. He said that he had done it secretly, because Horace and his daughter so strongly objected to his seeing those who held communion with the other world.
As to the woman who had met the colonel, he said that he did not know her name. She was veiled all the time, and did not speak to him.
After the disturbance—he was careful not to call it an expose—this woman had led him to the carriage, and they had hastened away.
Such was the strength of his delusion that he still believed that the manifestations he had seen at that house were genuine. He would not accept Nick's version of the affair.
"I have made up my mind what to do," he said. "My decision is unalterable. I shall buy the jewels and give them to Millie Stevens. I believe that in so doing I shall carry out my aunt's wishes."
It was a queer case for Nick. He had followed up many crimes, and had recovered a hundred fortunes in stolen property, but this was the first time that he had seen a robbery going on before his eyes and been unable to prevent it.
His pride was aroused. There was no use in combating the colonel's delusion. Of that he felt sure.
The man must be humored in order to secure delay.
"Colonel Richmond," said Nick, "I wish to suggest to you a final test in this matter. It will settle all doubt and satisfy me thoroughly.
"If you can convert me to your views, I should think the achievement might be worth the trouble."
"It would, indeed," cried the colonel, with sparkling eyes.
Nick, with his usual tact, had hit upon exactly the right course.
"You believe, of course," he said, "that the spirits of the dead cannot be stopped by bolts and bars."
The colonel smiled, and nodded assent.
"The most of the jewels in dispute are, I believe, in the vaults of a safe deposit company," Nick continued. "Very well; my test is this: Name some article of the collection which you are sure is there, and see whether your aunt will transfer it to Miss Stevens' possession.
"It should be as easy for a ghost to take anything from the vaults of a safe deposit company as from that dressing-table upstairs. Will you consent to the test?"
The colonel stood irresolute.
"Consent," said a voice, as of a woman standing beside them.
Yet the three men were the only human beings in that room.
"The voice came from that screen!" cried Patsy, and he leaped toward the old fire-place.
He tore away the screen. No one was there.
"It was my aunt's voice," said the colonel, calmly. "I consent."
"Consent to what?" asked Horace Richmond, entering the room at that moment.
The test was explained to him.
"Good!" he whispered to Nick. "A fine idea."
"Name a piece of jewelry," said the detective to the colonel.
"Among all her wonderful collection," replied Colonel Richmond, speaking slowly, "there was no piece of which she was more proud than the gold clasp, studded with diamonds, which you well remember, Horace."
"I do," responded Horace. "There is an old tradition about it. A remote ancestor of ours is said to have brought it from the Holy Land at the time of the third crusade."
"An ancient family," said Nick. "You have a right to be proud of your ancestry. I accept the article named as the one upon which the test shall be made, provided that you are sure that it is now in the vault."
"Perfectly certain," responded the colonel. "I put it there with my own hands. Nobody else was present, except an officer of the company and my daughter. It is utterly impossible that the jewel can have been removed."
"I will take that for granted," said Nick. "The conditions of the test are that this piece shall not be found in the vault when we visit it this afternoon, and that it shall be afterward discovered in the possession of Millie Stevens."
"Granted," said the colonel; and then in a clear voice, as if he wanted to be sure that there was no misunderstanding in spirit land, he announced the conditions of the test.
CHAPTER IX.
THE DIAMOND CLASP.
They then left the room. Nick dispatched Patsy secretly to the Stevens house.
Shortly before noon, Colonel Richmond, Horace, and Nick took a train for the city.
At two o'clock they entered the vault of the safe deposit company.
It is a long room below the level of the street.
The walls are lined with metal drawers, fastened by locks of the most approved pattern.
The drawers near the floor are the largest. They are, perhaps, a foot square, as seen when closed. Near the top of the room they are much smaller.
A movable metal step-ladder stands ready for the convenience of those who wish to reach the boxes on the upper tiers.
The space in the middle of the room is railed off, and there sits a guard day and night.
"This is ours," said the colonel, advancing toward one of the larger drawers. "I placed the diamond clasp on the very top of the pile of jewels within. It was in a case of its own."
Nick turned to speak to the officer in charge.
He questioned him regarding the possibility of any person taking anything from the boxes. He asked especially about the custody of Mrs. Pond's jewels.
"Colonel Richmond and Mrs. Pond have the two keys necessary for opening the drawer," said the official.
"Yes," said Colonel Richmond, speaking over his shoulder to Nick. "I told you all about that, and I explained how the second key happened to be in my possession instead of Mrs. Pond's."
"True," said Nick, apologetically, "that was not what I was asking about."
At that moment he heard the click of the drawer as it was pulled open.
"Here, wait for me!" he cried. "I should see everything."
As he stepped forward Horace Richmond was just closing the little case which had held the diamond clasp. The colonel was turning away.
"I am deeply disappointed," he said. "The clasp is there."
As the colonel walked away with bowed head, Nick turned to Horace.
The young man's face was a study. He looked as if he had seen a grave-yard full of ghosts.
"Nick Carter," he whispered, "this is dreadful."
"What?"
"Hush! I had to fool him. I positively had to or he would have gone crazy."
He poured the words into Nick's ear in an excited whisper.
"I made him think the clasp was in the box, but it isn't. I substituted another piece. The clasp is gone. What shall we do?"
He showed Nick the box. It contained nothing. Horace had removed the piece which he had used in the deception.
"Good Heavens!" cried Horace. "He heard me."
He pointed to the colonel, who stood like one who has been struck upon the head.
"Gone!" he cried, rushing toward them. "You deceived me!"
Well, they searched the drawer, and the clasp certainly was not there.
Horace explained how he had deceived the colonel by quickly putting another piece of jewelry into the little case when he found it empty.
"I am clever at sleight-of-hand," said he, "or I could never have worked it. I just flashed it before your eyes, uncle, and made you think that you saw the clasp. Forgive me; I thought it was the best."
"I will forgive you, Horace," said Colonel Richmond, gently; "but now you must believe. And you, too, Mr. Carter. Here is proof positive."
They locked the drawer and left the vault.
In the ante-chamber Nick turned to Horace.
"I suppose you'll want to knock my head off when I tell you what I now propose to do," said the detective. "But I think it ought to be done."
"What is it?" asked Horace.
"I think you ought to be searched."
"Exactly my own idea," said Horace. "It is only fair to you. Proceed."
Nick searched him. The diamond clasp was not found. Horace certainly did not have it.
"I hope you're satisfied," he said to Nick. "You know perfectly well that I have had no opportunity to dispose of it. There wasn't much chance in that vault."
Nick laughed.
"I should say not," he replied. "I'm afraid we shall have to fall back upon the theory of the colonel."
"No theory," cried he; "but the living truth, and now proven before you both. But let me ask, Mr. Carter, why you suspected my nephew of taking the clasp."
"I didn't," replied Nick promptly. "I searched him in order to remove every possibility."
"Surely he would have no motive for such an action."
"None that I can see," said Nick, with perfect sincerity.
They proceeded at once to Mrs. Stevens' house.
It was about seven o'clock when they arrived.
They drove up from the station, and on the way picked up Patsy.
During the remainder of the drive, he was busy communicating with Nick in their sign language.
"Miss Stevens is in her room," said Patsy. "She has had a doctor with her almost all the time. He refuses to say anything. I believe, upon my soul, that I shot her last night."
Annie O'Neil, the servant, answered the bell.
She ushered them into the parlor, and said that Mrs. Stevens was in the room of her daughter who was quite ill.
Annie went upstairs to summon her mistress.
A minute later the party below heard a scream.
Then Mrs. Stevens appeared. She was very pale.
In her hand she held a small object wrapped in paper.
"I have just found this upon my daughter's pillow," she said. "I have not removed the paper, but I know instinctively what is within. It is another jewel."
"I am equally sure of it," cried the colonel. "Open the package, Mrs. Stevens."
"My hand trembles so," the lady began.
"Don't open it now," said Nick, "wait a moment. I have a suggestion to make. And, at any rate, we all know what is within.
"Colonel Richmond. I suppose it is useless to plead with you further?"
"Quite useless," said the colonel. "Millie shall have all the jewels. I am determined to buy them of my daughter, and make the transfer at once."
"Well, I am beaten," said the detective. "The case has gone against me. But I will still try to help you. I wish to call your attention to the legal aspects of this case.
"They may surprise you, but, before, going further, I think you should know them. You will not accept my authority, if I state the facts as they are.
"Mrs. Stevens, is it not true that you have one of the judges of the Supreme Court as your neighbor?"
"Yes; Judge Lorrimer is our next neighbor on the south."
"Will you kindly send your servant to his house, or perhaps—"
He glanced at Horace.
"All right, I'll go," said Horace. "I know the judge. But I don't see what you are driving at, Mr. Carter."
"I want to persuade Colonel Richmond to get the law in the case before he goes further. He should consult an authority about this transfer before he makes any more promises which may or may not be legally good."
"I think it a good idea," said Colonel Richmond. "Horace, go over to the judge's house."
During the interval while he was gone very little was done. Mrs. Stevens sat holding the package, and apparently deeply moved.
She several times declared to Colonel Richmond that she did not wish her daughter to get the jewels in such a way, and that she was still convinced that human beings had planned and executed the whole strange series of robberies and surprises.
"If it should prove," said Nick, "that this is a conspiracy, do you wish any arrests?"
He turned toward the colonel as he spoke.
"If it does," said the colonel, with a smile, "you can arrest me. It won't."
"But I am serious."
"So am I. Of course, if there had been a crime I would not shield the guilty parties, whoever they might be."
At that moment Horace returned with Judge Lorrimer, whom he had met walking just beyond Mrs. Stevens' grounds.
"I have tried to explain the case to him," said Horace; "but he says he doesn't understand how any legal complications can arise."
"We will try to make that clear presently," said Nick. "Mrs. Stevens, open that package. No; wait a moment. You are agitated. You should have a glass of water. Permit me to ring."
He put his hand upon the bell-cord.
As he did so, Mrs. Stevens opened the package. The article within rolled out upon her lap.
It was not the diamond clasp, but an ordinary pocket-knife of large size.
"Why, Nick, it's yours," cried Patsy.
"So it is," responded the detective. "But this is a diamond clasp."
He drew the relic of the third crusade from his pocket as he spoke, and handed it to the colonel.
At that moment Annie O'Neil appeared at the door in answer to the bell.
"And now," said Nick, while the others stared in wonder. "We will consider the legal points involved.
"Judge Lorrimer, here are the necessary blank forms. Please grant me warrants for the arrest of Horace Richmond and Annie O'Neil for criminal conspiracy."
CHAPTER X.
SOME CLEVER TRICKS EXPLAINED.
No sooner had Nick uttered these words than a loud cry rang through the house.
Instantly Millie Stevens appeared upon the threshold of the parlor.
"Horace!" she cried. "Tell me it is not true. You have not done this."
"Certainly not," he exclaimed. "It is an absurd slander. Carter, you'll be sorry for this."
The girl looked straight into Horace's face for an instant.
Then she uttered a moan.
"He is guilty!" she cried; "I can read it in his eyes. And I loved him so."
She sank upon the floor at her mother's feet.
"Oh, mother," she said, "this is a just punishment for me. You told me I must give him up. You read his heart.
"But I secretly accepted his love. I received letters in which he begged me to keep our love a secret, and in which I should have read a confession of guilt.
"And all the time he loved me only because he thought that I should have a fortune in gold and diamonds."
"You have stated the case exactly," said Nick. "When he thought you would inherit all those jewels, he made love to you. Heaven knows that your own attractions should have been enough, but they were not for him.
"When the jewels went elsewhere, he was probably on the point of giving you up. I judge that from certain letters of yours in that telegraph cipher which I found in his room.
"Then he wormed his plan for making you rich. He managed the robberies at the house with the aid of John Gilder and one or two of that spiritualistic gang whom he smuggled into the house.
"He did everything to increase his uncle's delusion. It was he who put Colonel Richmond again in the hands of that medium."
"I supposed that that affair was all over," said Mrs. Stevens; "both the colonel and I had disapproved of it."
"Annie O'Neil," said Nick, turning to the servant, "a full confession from you is what we now require. It may save you from prison.
"We know that you managed the affair from this end. It was you who put the jewels where they were found, after they had been given you by Horace. It was you—catch her!"
This last exclamation was addressed to Patsy. The girl was wavering as if she would fall.
Before Patsy could reach her she sank sobbing to the floor. She proceeded to pour out an incoherent confession, in which little was clear but the name of Horace Richmond, and the fact that the girl "loved him still."
"I've been waiting for this," said Horace, with a brutal sneer. "Trust a woman and lose the game. Well, it's all up. I loved you, Millie, but not enough to marry you without the jewels. So I schemed for the transfer, and I have failed."
"It was Annie O'Neil whom you followed last night, Patsy," said Nick. "Who was the men?"
"John Gilder," gasped the terrified girl.
"And you played ghost?"
"Yes, sir."
"But how about my shooting?" asked Patsy. "How does Annie O'Neil happen to be alive?"
"Read that from Chick," said Nick, producing a paper. "He's made some discoveries in the colonel's house to-day while we were all away.
"He's found the ghost. It seems that this girl was inside of a hollow dummy.
"She stood over a trap door. Just as soon as she had shown her face, she dropped the veil, and went through the trap."
"The dummy still continued to stand there, and you shot at it. Two of your bullets flattened on its steel braces. The rest went through.
"John Gilder flashed the light. When he turned it off, the dummy was hauled down through the trap, and hidden in a place that neither you nor I found, Patsy."
Colonel Richmond seemed to be in a trance.
"But the mysterious force," he said, at last. "The injury to yourself and your assistant. How do you explain that?"
"It was done by John Gilder swinging a sand-bag on a string at the end of a pole which he poked through one of those panels.
"It couldn't be seen in that dim light, and it made a fearful weapon. It's a wonder that he didn't knock our heads off."
"I thought that I heard something whiz," muttered Patsy.
"And yet I heard her voice this morning," said the colonel. "She said 'consent.'"
"No, she didn't; I said it," rejoined Nick. "I'm something of a ventriloquist."
"How was the affair managed at the safe deposit vault?" asked the colonel, after a pause.
"Why, Horace took the clasp out of the box and put it into your pocket. You really saw it, only he made you think afterward that you didn't.
"After I had searched him he picked your pocket and got the clasp. Then he wrapped it in paper.
"I picked his pocket to make matters even, and substituted my knife similarly wrapped up.
"When we got to this house he gave the knife to Annie O'Neil, who put it on Miss Stevens' pillow when she went upstairs to call Mrs. Stevens."
"You have not explained the robberies at my house," said Colonel Richmond.
"I'll do that over there. Is the rest of it clear? Has anybody a question to ask?"
Nobody spoke.
"Annie O'Neil," said Nick, "I'll leave here in Patsy's charge. Horace Richmond, come with us."
Horace looked ugly for a moment, and then he calmed down and sullenly complied with Nick's order.
Judge Lorrimer begged to be of the party in order to see the explanation of the mysterious robberies of which he had heard.
Two hours later they all stood in Mrs. Pond's room.
"The essential part of this matter," said Nick, "was this door which appeared to open and close of itself.
"I saw that at a glance, and made a secret investigation. It is done by electricity.
"There's a magnet in the casing which is powerful enough to swing the door to, after which the same magnet pushes this little bolt—which looks like an ordinary screw—into position, and that holds the door, but not very steadily.
"You may say that this should have given me the criminal at once, but it didn't.
"You see, this electro-magnet works whenever a current is turned into the wires. Horace was clever enough to have the wires lead all over the house.
"A connection with the electric light wires, furnishing the current, can be made in almost every room in the house.
"Of course, I suspected Horace at once, because his room was directly overhead. In fact, the two are connected, as you see, by a ventilator in the form of a pipe with a grated opening in each room.
"The grating here, you see, is open."
"But, bless me," exclaimed Judge Lorrimer, "no thief could come through such a place. Why, it isn't six inches square."
"Step in here a minute and see," said Nick, and then he called out:
"All ready, Chick!"
The whole party had by this time gone into Mrs. Pond's sitting-room.
Nick said hush, and pointed to the ventilator. Most of the party could see it through the door.
Instantly there appeared a mass of green feathers, and then Horace Richmond's parrot fluttered noiselessly down into the room.
For a minute or two it ran around the floor. Then it flew up on to the dressing-table, seized a small gold bar pin in its beak, and flew back into the ventilator pipe.
"A nice trick," said the detective. "I believe it took you some time to teach the bird that."
"About a year," growled Horace. "The bird was well trained before."
"Is it all clear?" said Nick.
"Perfectly," said the colonel. "But how did you get at it?"
"Simply enough. There was only one way into this room when those robberies were committed, and the parrot was the only living thing in the house that was small enough to go through that pipe and intelligent enough to do the trick.
"You see, Horace trained the bird to pick up bright objects, and especially articles of the color of gold, and to go up and down that pipe.
"Then he schemed to have your daughter come here. The rest was easy. He waited till she was in the farther room, and then closed the door between by the electrical device.
"Immediately he sent down the parrot. The bird was so well trained that he required only a minute or two to secure something.
"Of course, it was not always something of value. There were probably a dozen failures where the bird brought back nothing or some useless object that glittered.
"I suspected the bird, and so put Chick on that lay. As you see, he has got the creature to work very well.
"Now, colonel, what more can I do for you? What shall be done with the prisoners?"
"Nothing; I will not prosecute."
"I guess we can hush it up, if you say so," responded Nick. "By the way, there's one thing that I want to explain. I mean the strange appearance of that diamond pin in the box on the occasion of Mrs. Stevens' first visit.
"It was not the real pin, but a duplicate which had been prepared in advance. Horace had put up that game as a finishing touch for his uncle.
"Mrs. Pond had forced Horace to go for me; but he wouldn't be scared out. He played the game right under my nose.
"Annie O'Neil had the duplicate pin. She opened that box while Mrs. Stevens was calling to her daughter, as she testified, and put the duplicate into it. Then she wrapped it up just as before."
"So I won't have to give up the jewels," said Mrs. Pond.
"I am afraid you will," said Nick; "the queerest part of the story is to come.
"Chick has found a later will by Miss Lavina Richmond. It is undoubtedly genuine.
"And where do you suppose it was found? The strangest of all places—in Horace Richmond's room."
"She died there," responded the colonel. "She must have hidden the will during her last illness."
"It is strange to think of Horace Richmond struggling with that parrot, and putting up his elaborate schemes, while the document which would have given him all he wanted was hidden in his own room."
Horace Richmond's face at that moment was an amusing spectacle.
So was Mrs. Pond's.
"Never mind, daughter," said the colonel. "It is better so. I will make good the loss to you."
And so ends Nick Carter's ghost story in a most natural manner.
Nobody was ever punished for the affair. Even the gang of mediums and heelers whom Nick had rounded up were released after their night in jail, because, on sober second thought, their dupes were ashamed to complain against them.
THE MYSTERY OF ST. AGNES' HOSPITAL
CHAPTER I.
LAWRENCE DEEVER DEMANDS JUSTICE.
"I call it a perfectly plain case, Mr. Colton."
"A case of what?"
"Why, murder, of course."
"Who has been murdered?"
As "Mr. Colton"—who was no other than Nick Carter—asked this question, his face looked as innocent as a babe's. He seemed surprised to hear that there had been a murder, though his companion, Lawrence Deever, had been saying so repeatedly during the last half hour.
Deever now looked at Nick with eyes and mouth wide open.
"Who has been murdered?" he repeated. "My brother has been murdered."
"What makes you think so?" asked Nick, calmly.
"What, indeed!" exclaimed Deever. "I have told you already."
"No, you haven't. You have told me that your brother has been missing since night before last."
"I told you more than that," cried Deever. "He is known to have quarreled with that man Jarvis."
"Dr. Jarvis, of St. Agnes' Hospital?"
"Of course. And I have proved—"
"You have proved nothing," said Nick. "Let me repeat your statements:
"Your brother Patrick worked for Dr. Jarvis, or under his direction, in the garden of St. Agnes' Hospital. The doctor frequently remonstrated with Patrick for drinking too much whisky, and—"
"Remonstrated!" exclaimed Deever. "That's hardly the word for it. He abused the lad. He struck him half a dozen times during the last week."
"With the flat of his hand," said Nick, smiling. "That is hardly the foundation for a charge of murder."
"It shows that Jarvis is a violent man," said Deever, "and everybody knows that he is."
"He has a bad temper, I will admit."
"He's a dangerous old crank."
"Well, to continue your statement of the case, late on Monday afternoon they were heard quarreling in the garden. They were seen there about half-past six o'clock.
"A little after half-past seven the doctor was seen coming toward the hospital. He was greatly excited. He passed Martin Burns, who drives the hospital ambulance.
"Martin went into the garden and failed to find Patrick. Nobody can tell what became of your brother or how he got out of the garden."
"Yes; that's the point," Deever cried. "How did he get out?"
"He may have climbed over the wall."
"You've forgotten that his coat, with a little money in the pocket, was found hanging on the limb of a tree."
"No, I did not forget that."
"Well, why did he leave it?"
"I don't pretend to know."
"And what has become of him?"
"There, again, I shall have to find out the facts before I answer."
"I tell you he was murdered."
"Now," said Nick, smiling again, "I shall have to turn your own question against yourself: If he was murdered, what's become of him?"
"You mean where's his body?"
"Exactly."
"But do you mean to tell me," cried Deever, indignantly, "that if this man has hidden my brother's body so that nobody can find it he will escape punishment for his crime?"
"Nothing of the sort," Nick replied. "I only wish to curb your impatience."
"I'm not more impatient than any man in my situation ought to be. I simply demand justice."
"Or, in other words—"
"I want you to arrest Dr. Jarvis."
"I can't do it."
"Why not?"
"We must have some sort of proof that your brother is dead. We can't try a man for the murder of somebody who may be alive for all we know."
"You seem to be working in Jarvis' interest," said Deever, with a sneer.
"Not a bit of it. You know why I am here in your house."
"Because Superintendent Byrnes sent you; and I supposed that he had sent a good man. He promised the best."
"Well, that ought to satisfy you."
"There was no need of sending anybody. We might have arrested Jarvis at once. Any ordinary policeman could have got evidence enough to convict."
"But the superintendent did not think so."
"No; and I'm willing he should work in his own way, so long as I get justice in the end. Now, what do you want?"
"Well," said Nick, appearing to consider the subject deeply, "I would like some evidence of a motive."
"I don't believe there was any motive. The thing was done in anger."
"Then I want evidence of a really serious quarrel."
"Very well; you wait right here, and I'll bring a man who knows something about it. I heard of him this morning, and had time to ask him a few questions, but I don't know all he has to tell."
Deever hastily left the room. From the window Nick saw Deever pass up West One Hundred and Forty-third street, on which the house stood. He was going in the direction of St. Nicholas avenue.
In less than an hour he returned with a young man whom he presented as the important witness for whom he had been in search.
"Your name is Adolf Klein?" said Nick.
The witness nodded. He was a bashful, awkward fellow, who did not seem to be possessed of the average intelligence.
"Where do you work?" was the next question.
"I'm a bartender in Orton's saloon, up on the avenue."
"Do you know what has become of Patrick Deever?"
"All I know is this: I was passing the grounds of the hospital Monday evening and stopped just by the wall. The reason I stopped was that I heard Pat Deever inside, talking very loud. He called somebody an old fool and swore at him."
The witness paused. He seemed to be a good deal excited. It was not very warm in the room, but the perspiration was pouring off of Klein's forehead.
"Was that all you heard?" asked Nick.
"No; I heard more hard talk, and then a blow was struck. It sounded heavy and dull. Then came more blows. Somebody seemed to be pounding. It sounded as if he was pounding on the ground, and if it hadn't been for the loud talk just before, I'd have thought that Pat was smoothing down a flower-bed with his spade."
"Did you hear any talking after the blow?"
"I didn't hear Pat's voice again."
"Did you hear any voice?"
"I heard somebody muttering. The voice sounded like Dr. Jarvis'. I've been to the hospital, and I know the doctor."
"Did you look over the wall?"
"No; it's too high there. I ran around to the gate on St. Nicholas avenue and tried to see in; but I couldn't. There were too many trees between me and the garden."
"Then what did you do?"
"I went home."
"Did you say anything about what you had heard?"
"Not that night."
"When did you first speak of it?"
"This morning."
"To whom?"
"To Mr. Deever. He was in the saloon, and he told me that his brother was missing."
"Well," cried Deever, who could keep silence no longer, "what do you think of that?"
"It is important evidence."
"You remember," Deever continued, "that when I went to ask Jarvis where my brother was, he admitted having quarreled with him, but said that it ended in words. Now we know that it ended in blows."
"What time was it when you heard that blow?" asked Nick of Klein.
"Must have been about half-past seven," Klein replied.
"How do you know?"
"When I walked up the avenue I saw the clock on the church up by One Hundred and Fiftieth street. It was a quarter of eight."
"That fits the case exactly," Deever exclaimed. "It was a little after half-past seven when Burns saw Jarvis coming in from the garden."
"That is true."
"Will you arrest Jarvis now?"
"I will not," said Nick. "The evidence is not yet sufficient."
Deever made an impatient gesture.
"Remember," said Nick, "that an accusation of murder leaves an indelible stain. We cannot move too carefully."
"You will let him escape."
"His escape is utterly impossible," said Nick. "He is watched."
"A good many men have been watched and have got away."
"Nobody ever got away from the man who is watching Jarvis," said Nick, quietly; and that praise was not too high, for the person in question was Nick's famous assistant, Chick.
"And now," said Deever, "may I ask what more you need in the way of evidence?"
"I need proof of your brother's death."
"In short, we must find the body."
"Exactly."
"Very well," sneered Deever, "I suppose I must do it myself. I've got nearly all the evidence thus far."
"By all means do it," said Nick, with his calm smile, "if you can."
Deever stared at him for more than a minute without speaking. Then he said:
"Colton, why do you treat this case as you do?"
"What do you mean?"
"You don't seem to want to go ahead with it."
"I don't want to go ahead with it any faster than the facts will justify. If you had had more experience in such matters you would know the folly of arresting a man first and getting facts to warrant the arrest afterward. As I say, I want more facts, and you must help me to get them."
The last part of this conversation was held as Nick, Deever and Klein passed out upon the street.
A ragged young man who was leaning against a tree heard it, and was much surprised.
For the ragged young man was Patsy, and he had never heard Nick Carter ask anybody except his regular assistants to help him in that way before.