“Perhaps he knows that if he tried to do that he’d be arrested,” suggested the young reporter. “Flight would be an evidence of guilt, and Nyler is keeping a close watch on him. So am I.”
“And he doesn’t show the least sign of going away?”
“Not the least. Lots of reporters from other papers have interviewed him, and, though he admits that he is not on friendly terms with Madame Androletti, he says he knows nothing about the taking away of the boy.”
“Why does he admit being unfriendly?”
“Because, he says, that the fortune she has is rightfully his, and he has brought suit to recover it. But he was defeated in the Italian courts. He says he will yet have justice, but he denies that he would try to get it through taking away a little boy.”
“What do you think, Larry?”
“Well, I don’t know what to think. I believe Parloti had a hand in the matter, in spite of what he says. But it’s like the case of the bank mystery. I might be mistaken. And there’s another point in this case like that Wall Street robbery.”
“What’s that?” inquired the city editor.
“It’s this: If Parloti is guilty, the fact of his staying here, and facing the music, and his constant denials, prove him a good actor, just as that bank clerk was, in staying in the bank when he had hidden the million away.”
“That’s so. Well, keep right after him, Larry, and see what you can get out of it. You might yet find the boy, and get a big ‘beat’.”