CHAPTER X.
THE DEEPER MYSTERY.
Nick Carter returned to the Wilton House at one o’clock. He found Chick and Patsy waiting for him, both of whom quickly told him what they had learned that morning, and then heard his own brief report of the inquest.
“By Jove, you were right!” Chick then said seriously. “It now is a cinch that Todd was murdered.”
“I felt reasonably sure of it from the first,” the detective replied.
“But who killed him?” put in Patsy. “That’s the question. You say you are sure, chief, that Paulding did not do it.”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“What’s your game, then? Why did you frame up a deal with him, telling him he might not be suspected and afterward advise having him arrested?”
“Superficially, Patsy, that does appear quite inconsistent,” said Nick, smiling. “In reality, however, I called on Paulding only to get his measure and convince myself of his innocence. I want him arrested, nevertheless, in order that Todd’s assassin, as to whose identity and motive we are entirely in the dark, may think the police are sure they have the right man. That will relieve him of fears that otherwise would put him on his guard. We then can get in our work with much less difficulty.”
“There is something in that, chief, all right,” Patsy quickly allowed.