"Come this way."
As the woman led the way through a back door, into another apartment, a pair of strong hands suddenly seized and held her fast, while a voice hissed in her ear:
"Not a sound or you die!"
It was a startling situation.
"I am here for a purpose," said the old man, a sudden change in his voice. "I want you to lead me to the room in which Nell Darrel is confined."
The man's hands fell from the woman's shoulders, and when she turned about, she found that he had her covered with a revolver.
His voice sounded familiar.
"You're the detective, Dyke Darrel?"
"It matters not. Show me the way to the room where you have Nell Darrel imprisoned," uttered the man in a stern voice.
The menacing revolver decided the woman. The old building had been arranged for emergencies of this kind, as the sequel will show. A strange glitter came to the eyes of Mrs. Scarlet as she said: