“I was more than anxious, more than anxious,” Senator Barclay repeated, while Nick and Patsy accompanied him toward the house. “There is another mysterious feature in connection with this robbery, Nick; one that seems utterly inexplicable.”
“What is that?” Nick inquired.
“The thief, or thieves, as the case may be, left a soiled sheet in the butler’s pantry, which they entered by breaking the window and unlocking it. The pantry is so shut in that the noise was not heard. The robbery was not discovered until Estella awoke early this morning and found that her room had been entered. Why the burglars had a soiled sheet, which looks as if it had been through a war, puzzled me even more than——”
“It does not puzzle me, Senator Barclay,” Nick interposed.
“No?”
The statesman gazed at Nick with a look of amazement.
“Not at all,” Nick added. “There was only one burglar, senator, and I happen to know why he had a soiled sheet.”
“Good heavens! is it possible?” Senator Barclay replied, with countenance beginning to brighten. “There are hundreds of brilliant and discerning men in the circle of my acquaintance, Carter, but you certainly have something on all of them. What do you mean? How do you know there was only one burglar, and why he left a soiled sheet in my house? By gracious, I begin to feel that you may yet avert the calamity that threatens me.”
“Let’s wait until we are seated in our library, senator,” Nick replied, smiling. “I then will answer your[{22}] questions and learn what you require of me. It goes without saying, of course, that I will do all in my power to avert any calamity that threatens you.”