“Gee! that beats me. Why was the revolver there, then? Why——”
“Stop a moment,” Nick interrupted. “You have just said, Patsy, that crooks could not have forced Darling to feign despondency for eight consecutive weeks. If so, then, his despondency must either have been voluntarily feigned, or else it must have been genuine.”
“Sure thing, chief. That’s plain enough.”
“One fact, however, indicates that it was not genuine,” Nick proceeded. “I refer to the fact that he recently spent many evenings in town, far more than in the past. His wife thinks he sought diversion to relieve his depression. He did not, however, permit her to accompany him. That’s a very significant point.
“It is wholly inconsistent in a husband seeking such relief. He would have wanted his wife with him to cheer him up and help divert his mind—barring one contingency.”
“Namely, chief?”
“Another attraction.”
“Gee! there may be something in that,” said Patsy, quick to see the point. “You mean another woman.”
“Exactly.”
“Kate Crandall.”