“When Nick Carter spoiled it all after Hank was fool enough to murder those two women in that flat at the Creotoria.�
Carleton Lynne laughed aloud. Then he said:
“You would never have ‘fallen’ upon Carroll, Mike, and you know it.�
“Why not, I’d like to know.�
“Because you were afraid of him; you always were—more afraid of him than you were of me in those old days, and that is saying considerable.â€�
“Afraid of nothing!�
“Afraid of everything, rather. You always were a despicable coward, Michael—don’t look so savage; words can’t hurt you—and Carroll was never afraid of anything. Have you forgotten the time he made you crawl on your hands and knees out of the saloon at Nome? And that, without showing a gun, while you held one in your hand all the time and were afraid to attempt to use it.â€�
The scowl on Red Mike’s face grew threatening, for, after all, the man on the bed was at his mercy.
He dropped his right hand into the coat pocket again and fondled the automatic gun, as if half inclined to use it; and Lynne, without changing the tone of his voice but realizing the danger of the moment, added:
“Maybe the effect upon you was hypnotic.�