“Not in her case. She is too calculating; too cold-blooded in her plots and plans.�

“But you will admit that a woman like her can be cold-blooded in nothing else that she does, won’t you?�

“Yes. What of that?�

“Madge Babbington is still young—almost a girl, although she has been twice married. I doubt if she ever has found the man who really attracted her; I think she can, and probably will, find that man in Lynne. He is every inch a man. I would have liked to have known him when he was well and strong.â€�

“Perhaps you will have an opportunity to do that later on, chief.�

“Perhaps,� replied Nick, shrugging his shoulders.

“All of this,� commented Chick, who had been a close listener to what had been said, “does not bring us any closer to the solution of the present problem.�

“Perhaps it does,� smiled Nick. “That was why I have been talking in that strain.�

“How so?�

“The problem is, where have they hidden Lynne away? Isn’t it?�