“Good. Tell me, what information did Mrs. Winthrop supply which induced you to arrest Captain Lane?”
“She told me that he had been seen on the street Monday night, when looking for Miss Carew’s carriage, and that he was carrying a sharp letter file.”
“Who gave her that information?”
“She didn’t state, but I have an idea that it was Annette; probably the girl wanted money and went to her direct, she was none too scrupulous, apparently.”
“I believe you are right,” exclaimed Douglas.
“Mrs. Winthrop also told me that she found, tucked away among her brother’s papers, yesterday an envelope containing a threatening letter. The contents were written in a disguised hand, but the postmark on the envelope read, ‘Lanesville, Maryland.’ She is firmly convinced that, if young Lane didn’t write those letters himself, he instigated them.”
“Oh, nonsense! He isn’t such a fool,” roughly. “I believe he is innocent.”
At that moment the door opened and Colonel Thornton walked in. He flung his hat on the table. “I am glad to find you both here,” he said. “Don’t get up,” as Douglas rose, “I’ll take this chair. I called you up at headquarters, Brett, but they told me you had just come here, so I hurried over from Mrs. Winthrop’s to catch you.”
“Does she want me for anything in particular?” asked Brett.
“She simply wanted to ask a few more details in regard to the coroner’s inquest. She is very much upset over Annette’s extraordinary death. It seems that the girl made some statement to her, and Mrs. Winthrop depended on her testimony to prove Lane killed Senator Carew.”