“I don’t know,” she replied. “I cannot even imagine. I have told Mr. Carrington, and he said you were here incognito and in disguise, so I asked him to call you. I have not forgotten what you have done for Archie and me, Mr. Carter.”
“Don’t mention that, Mrs. Waldmere,” said Nick. “What now is the trouble?”
“I don’t know,” Mollie tremulously repeated. “I only know that I—I cannot find my husband.”
CHAPTER II.
A DEEPENING MYSTERY.
Nick Carter was much less surprised, of course, upon learning of the mysterious disappearance of Archie Waldmere, than he would have been if he had not seen the episodes that had occurred about half past ten, and the remarkable duplication of the costume described.
Naturally, too, several pertinent questions at once arose in Nick’s mind.
Who was the other woman—the duplicate Night?
Was Waldmere the masked man who had accompanied her from the house and departed in a limousine?
Did he, in that case, know with whom he was going, or did he suppose he was departing with his wife?
If not, and he went willingly with another, what motive had he in so doing?