In confirmation of this there was a coarse, angular, irregular scrawl on the wall paper, several words evidently written with a tremulous hand by the woman, and inscribed with the tip of her forefinger dipped in her own life’s blood—a scrawl ending abruptly with a direct downward stroke toward where her right hand was then lying. It was as if she had expired, or lost consciousness, at least, while making a desperate effort to write more, enough to tell in full the tragic story.
The several slanting, irregular words were legible, however, and there was no mistaking their fateful significance.
They read:
“Arthur Gordon did this to get the——”
That was all save the last downward stroke left by the falling hand.
Was it enough?
Was it all that would be required to convict, to send her assassin over the same dark river?
These were the first questions that arose in the mind of Nick Carter.
CHAPTER II.
THE HEADQUARTERS MAN.
Nick Carter took in with a few swift glances those important features of the scene already mentioned. Instead of immediately beginning a more careful inspection, however, he turned to the headquarters man and said: