“I know Grady very well, Mr. Chadwick,” he replied. “I am pleased to know you, also. How is my old friend, and when did you last see him?”
“Quite recently, Mr. Carter, and I left him well,” rejoined Chadwick, with a smile softening the stern line of his thin lips. “I arrived in Boston this morning and came to New York by rail. I am here on important business and need your advice, and possibly your aid. I am stopping at the New Oriental.”
“I will be glad to be of any service to you,” said Nick. “What is the nature of your business?”
“I wish to find a young man who, I have reason to believe, is somewhere in the United States.”
“Ah, I see.”
“I am a stranger here, and appreciate, of course, the difficulties of my undertaking,” Chadwick continued, with a suavity that Nick did not quite fancy. “I am his uncle, however, and accepted the mission at the earnest solicitation of his father, my elder brother, who now is on his deathbed, if not already dead.”
“I understand,” bowed the detective. “What is your nephew’s name and when did you last hear from him?”
“Nearly three years ago.”
“Where was he at that time?”
“He then was in London,” said Chadwick, spreading his large hands on his knees. “He defied his father and was disinherited and cast out by his entire family, myself included. He became infatuated with a chorus girl in an American opera company, and married her in spite of his father’s bitter opposition, the Honorable Earl of Eggleston. He fled with her from England, and——”