"He has deputed me to act for him, madame, and if you will tell me your final proposal, I shall be able to say directly whether or not he will accept it."
"I shall not alter my proposition in the slightest. I must have one hundred thousand dollars in cash. He cannot pay this unless the match between his sister and Dr. Lord is broken off, and the only possible way to break it off is to accuse the doctor of the murder of old Mr. Rogers."
"But the doctor might be acquitted!" interjected Nick.
"I don’t think so. Why, even Nick Carter, the detective, will have to swear that he found the point of the hypodermic syringe in Mr. Rogers’ wrist, and the broken syringe in the doctor’s room. That would convict him in any court. Besides, it is very unlikely that Miss Rogers would marry a man about whom there was even a suspicion of having murdered her father. However, you now know the only conditions upon which I will get a divorce, and unless Sam consents at once, in writing, I will proclaim myself his wife and will go to police headquarters and tell them about the poison that was injected into Mr. Rogers wrist."
"Sam loves his sister," said Nick.
"I know he does," interrupted Anita. "But if he loves himself or Miss Bland, who, you know, is worth half a million, he will be a man and do what I demand. He can give his sister the money she will lose by not marrying Lord out of Miss Bland’s fortune."
"I am afraid he will not comply with your demand," said Nick.[Pg 39]
"Has he any proposition to make?"
"Yes. He will guarantee to pay you the one hundred thousand dollars after you procure the divorce, and he is married to Miss Bland."
"Does he think I am a fool?" she cried, angrily. "But I know this is not his doing. He has confided in Nick Carter. It is that wretch who is advising him. It is well he does not know the entire truth."