As the doctor was getting ready to leave his office, Nick made a mental summing up in the case, so far as he had got.
“This Mackenzie’s plot, if there be one, was deep-laid. He was probably an excellent reader of human nature, and when he got ready to pick out an innocent aid-de-camp in this town, he wisely selected Dr. Abbott, for the triple reason that Abbott was the most pliable, unsophisticated man in town: because he was a man of high standing in the community, and because he was a doctor by profession.
“He was careful not to let his chosen friend discover the fact that he, himself, thoroughly understood diseases and all their symptoms. Therefore, he easily led Abbott into the belief that he—Mackenzie—was a victim to some deadly malady.
“He has taken Abbott into his confidence about the absent son, even to showing the letters from the latter. Those letters we shall find among his effects, no doubt, and the son may or may not turn up hereafter.
“He even consulted the doctor, and used him in some way to further his ends about the life insurance. I must find out just how, after I have seen the corpse. Yes, I must see the corpse of Miles Mackenzie when we reach the house of mourning.”
CHAPTER XXIII.
A DOG’S INSTINCT.
As Nick Carter and Dr. Abbott walked through the main street of the town of Elmwood, on their way toward the residence of the late Miles Mackenzie, the detective had an opportunity to note the great popularity and widespread esteem in which his companion was held in that community.
Everyone they met had a word of greeting, and received from the whole-souled man some response in return. Very often inquiries were made about the funeral, and it was evident that a very general feeling of regret existed for the death of the man who had so recently come among them.
Abbott explained to Nick that the house, in which Mackenzie’s body lay, was half a mile beyond the edge of the town. The night was pleasant, and they walked along in the full enjoyment of the summer weather.
“Dr. Abbott,” said Nick, when they were fairly out of the town, “your friend died suddenly, you say. Might not the insurance company, on that account, be inquisitive, and be inclined to make trouble before they pay over such a large sum?”