“You were a witness,” replied Nick coldly. “As a good citizen, your duty is to tell the truth—if you are asked.”
It has been remarked already that Captain Brown was a business man. He thought more of the Old Pike Inn and its reputation than anything else on earth probably. He groaned at this suggestion.
“Chief!” suddenly shouted Chick.
He and Patsy rushed to Thomas Jarvis simultaneously. But they were not in time to prevent his slipping to the floor.
Half a minute later, Nick, on one knee by the side of the prostrate man, with a finger on the stilled pulse, looked up and said solemnly:
“You need not worry about being called on to testify, Captain Brown. The matter will never come up.”
“Is he dead?”
The response of the detective was to reverently cover the face of Thomas Jarvis with his own handkerchief.