"Precisely half an hour, sir," said he. "I noticed the time."
Mantell turned as pale as if suddenly death-stricken.
"Half an hour!" he gasped, with affrighted gaze meeting that of the detective. "That is impossible, utterly impossible. Half an hour ago, Nick, I was with my father in the surrogate court."
CHAPTER IV.
THE CONNECTING LINK.
Nick Carter already had come to two conclusions:
One, that the miscreant by whom Helen Mantell had been repeatedly threatened was none other than Gaston Goulard.
Another, that Gaston Goulard now had got in his iniquitous work.
Nick saw, too, that Frank Mantell was in a fair way to collapse under the alarming discovery, and he at once took steps to encourage him.
"You keep your head, Frank, and don’t let blind fear unman you," he commanded a bit sharply. "There is nothing in getting rattled. I know a good deal more about this matter than you suppose, and there is much less to fear concerning the personal safety of your wife than you imagine. Pull yourself together, therefore, and meet the situation man fashion. Let me take the ribbons, while you do as I have directed. I’ll speedily sift this to the bottom."
All this, together with the detective’s strong personal influence, was not without effect. Mantell braced himself to meet the worst, saying quickly: