“Does he say nothing at all in explanation of these changes?”
“He attributes them to our imagination and insists that there is nothing wrong,” said Senator Barclay. “I know better, however, and that he is all wrong. I called him down quite severely night before last, Mr. Carter, and he then made the remark which afterward led me to send for you.”
“What was that?”
“I charged him with being in serious trouble of some kind and insisted that he must confide in me,” Senator Barclay explained. “My persistency irritated him a little. He seemed to lose his head for a moment, and he asserted quite resentfully that I must cease interrogating him. He then added impulsively that I would be quite lucky if I kept out of the trouble myself.”
“H’m, is that so?” said Nick. “Did you ask him to explain?”
“Yes, certainly. He declared that he meant nothing definite, however, that he had spoken impulsively and only in a cursory way. I am sure, nevertheless, that the remark had much more serious significance, and that he implied that I might become involved in the very trouble with which he was burdened.”
“That is a natural inference,” Nick agreed.
“And you know, too, what it might signify,” Senator Barclay responded gravely. “There is only one bad mess, Mr. Carter, in which I could be involved with Garland. That is something relating to the theft of those government plans, and the fact that my name was kept out of that unfortunate affair.”
“That is what I have in mind,” bowed Nick.
“You also know, of course, that the miscreant who stole them from Dillon after he had received them from[{17}] Irma Valaska, is still at large. I refer to Andy Margate. He is capable of any kind of knavery. If he——”