“We will confide in the commissioner, however, and I think I can prevail on him to liberate you and state that your arrest was due to a mistake.”
“Really? I would be doubly grateful for that.”
“The commissioner knows you as well as I do, Gordon, and he will realize that your defeat in the near election may result from holding you under arrest. That must be prevented, if possible.[Pg 14]”
“I will return home, Nick, and remain there subject to his orders,” said Gordon, eager to bring it about. “Or he can have an officer go there to watch me.”
“I think I can make him see, Gordon, that you are most likely the victim of a plot, rather than guilty of this crime,” Nick replied. “All this will necessitate my breaking a record to find absolute evidence in proof of it, however, and I shall leave you immediately after talking with him. You keep your mouth closed after that, and be patient till you hear from me.”
“I will do both, Nick,” Gordon assured him.
“I’ll be off, then, after a talk with the commissioner. Come with me. I also want him to hold these articles subject to my order. I think I may find a use for them.”
CHAPTER IV.
NICK’S CAPITAL WORK.
Nick Carter easily won the commissioner to his own views, and he then returned at top speed to the Columbus Avenue flat. None could have realized more keenly that time was of value, that the political fate of his friend and client, to say nothing of his life, even, depended upon what he could quickly accomplish.
Nick felt that he was equal to the emergency, however, as well as sure of his man, and he was shaping his course accordingly. It was precisely half past ten when he arrived, for the second time, at the home of the murdered woman.