Bolton hastened to obey.
Chick laughed indifferently, and Murdock fiercely added,[{32}] with both hands clenched in front of the taunting detective.
“If you knew all that, Carter, why have you walked into this trap?”
“Does that surprise you?”
“It appears reckless, not to say absurd.”
“I did it, then, in order to get a line on the identity of you scamps, and to learn just how you are playing your knavish game,” Chick bluntly admitted.
“Oh, is that so?”
“Exactly so.”
“Well, then, you shall learn,” snapped Murdock fiercely. “It will cost you your life, but you shall learn. I’ll make it a point to satisfy your foolhardy curiosity. You shall learn—but at the cost of your life.”
“Suppose we make a beginning, then,” said Chick, a bit sharply. “Let’s both sail under—true colors.”