“Circumstances may have prevented him from communicating with us, or he may be seeking additional evidence before doing so,” Nick rightly reasoned.
“Mebbe so,” Patsy agreed. “But what’s eating Goulard? Why was he so haired up over it? Is he in love with Helen Bailey?”
“That evidently is one reason,” said Nick. “She denies that she has given him any encouragement, however, beyond accepting a ride to and from her place of business occasionally. She states that he has always treated her respectfully. I would not care to trust Goulard with such a girl, nevertheless, much farther than I could throw him.”
“Nor I, chief, as far as that goes,” said Patsy. “I don’t half like his looks.”
“There may be a more serious cause for his being haired up, as you term it,” Nick added.
“You refer to the robberies?”
“Exactly.”
“You think he may be the man behind the gun?”
“I begin to think so,” said Nick. “It is quite possible that he is engaged in a big scheme to defraud his own partner. You observed last evening, no doubt, that he was quite anxious to know what investigations I intended to make, and he insisted that I must keep him informed of my progress.”
“You bet I noticed that,” said Patsy. “It is significant, too, as far as it goes.”