Half an hour later the residence was beyond rescue.
Nick hurried the doctor away, and enjoined him to secrecy on the subject of their afternoon’s adventure.
An hour later both were on the way to New York.
That night Nick, accompanied by Dr. Abbott, Chick, Patsy, the chief of police and the president of the Scotia Insurance Company, surprised Mackenzie and his guilty wife at their apartments in the hotel where they had secured accommodations in order to be in New York the next morning for the purpose of cashing the Scotia’s check as soon as the banks opened their doors for business.
The surprise and confusion of the wicked pair were complete.
They admitted everything but the killing of Jason Templin. Both declared he had died a natural death, a statement Nick knew was not true, but which he realized would be hard to disprove before a jury.
While Chick and Patsy kept close guard over the two prisoners, the chief of police, Nick Carter, Abbott and the insurance president retired to another room for consultation.
Two of the conspirators were dead. If Miss Templin yet lived, it would be hard to convict the two survivors of murder. That much was admitted.
Miss Templin could not be found. Mackenzie declared, a few minutes before, that the young woman was alive, but would never be heard from unless he got ready to speak, which, under his present circumstances, he was not willing to do.
Nick and the chief of police both realized that they were dealing with a desperate man, and they finally agreed to compromise with him if he would accept their terms.