“I can’t agree,” she said, “that the discovery of a secret entrance disproves all possibility of the presence of supernatural agencies. I think no human intruder can be held responsible for all we have been through. How do you account for two deaths occurring at the very moment they were foretold?”
Her question was evidently addressed to Wise, and he replied, “I think, Miss Carnforth, that those two deaths were murders, cleverly accomplished by human wills, and it is my immediate duty to prove this. Therefore, I am now going to endeavour to recover the missing body of the unfortunate girl who was killed.”
“What! Vernie’s body!” and Eve gasped.
“Yes. And not wishing to do anything to which you may not all agree, I announce frankly that I am going to have the lake dragged.”
“The lake!” cried Wynne Landon, “why, man, it is miles long!”
“But I think that the same person who tried to drown Zizi is responsible for the disappearance of Miss Reid’s body, and I feel sure that if we look in that same part of the lake we will find what we are after.”
“Incredible!” exclaimed Landon. “You will only waste your time!”
Wise looked closely at the face of the speaker, and then turned quickly to observe another face.
“At any rate, it can do no harm to try,” he said, finally.
“Not at all,” said Braye; “go ahead. But even the recovery of Vernie’s body, will get us no nearer to her murderer. I wish I had been here at the time of those deaths. While I cannot feel I should have been of any help, I do think I could have noticed something or formed some opinion or conclusion from the circumstances.”