“Now,â€� said the detective, “give me your close attention, both of you. What I shall tell you will be the only instructions you will receive—will be all, in fact, that I can give you.â€�
Again they nodded in comprehension.
“I don’t know whether this is a case or not,â€� the detective continued. “I am acting, just now, as I have done many times in the past—upon that kind of an impulse which I call a ‘hunch.’â€�
“The Lynne inheritance, of course?� Chick asked.
“Yes; the Lynne inheritance, and the Babbington case, as well. If I am anywhere near to being correct in my conjectures, the two matters just about dovetail, right here.�
“To start with,� suggested Patsy, “you don’t believe that the Carleton Lynne you saw yesterday, and again to-day, is the real article. This is the size of it, isn’t it?�
“To begin with,� replied Nick Carter, “I do not believe that the Carleton Lynne I saw yesterday, and again to-day, is the real article, and I have the least logical reason for that lack of faith. Put that down in your minds and think it over.�
“Just a hunch, eh?� said Chick.
“Just a hunch in the beginning—yesterday when I walked into the office of Ben Oaks directly behind this chap from the West. Since then that hunch has been strengthened by a few unimportant incidents which I will relate to you.
“Incident number one, and it really should take third or fourth place in the list, because I paid no attention to it at the time: When I entered the private office, before Carleton Lynne was admitted, Oaks sent his stenographer, whom he calls his secretary, out of the room. She went into the library, which adjoins the private office, and she left the communicating door ajar. Whether that was accident or design, I know that she listened intently to our conversation. I could see her doing that, by means of a mirror that hangs in the library, and which I could see through the half-open door.