“One moment, Mr. Beckwith,” Nick interrupted. “This is Nick Carter talking.”
“Nick Carter! Good heavens! What has occurred out there?”
“Tell me, instead, what is wrong in Gordon’s office, that you are so disturbed.”
“Wrong enough!” came the quick reply. “Cash, bonds, and securities, aggregating sixty thousand dollars, are missing from the vault. Unless Mr. Gordon removed them——”
“Wait!” Nick commanded a bit sharply. “Is Pauline Perrot there?”
“She is not. She has not come in yet.”
Nick glanced at a French clock on the mantel.
It struck the half hour at that moment, a single stroke, like a sudden death knell—the half after ten.
CHAPTER II.
THE MAN WHO ESCAPED.
Nick Carter decided instantly what must be done, also not done. He continued talking with Beckwith without a perceptible pause.