“Yes, sir. It was this way. At four o’clock this morning word was brought to the station house that tracks had been discovered in the snow, showing that some person, or persons, had passed through the gate at Pleasantglades. Our captain was immediately called from——â€�
“Oh, never mind that. What did you find?� interrupted the stricken father.
“We found, sir, the tracks where four men had gone into the place and come out again.�
“Four?�
“Yes, sir. It had been snowing, so we could tell that one of them had gone in and come out again, before the visit of the other three.� (That meant Nick’s first entrance.)
“Well, go on.�
“It wasn’t very long after the first one came out, to judge by the tracks, before the other three came along, and maybe they only found the gate open—we can’t say as to that. But they went inside, and into the house, too.â€�
“How did they get into the house? Quick. Tell me what you found inside the house.�
“They picked the lock, sir. They had all been to the room where we discovered the dead body of Miss Lynne.�
This time Lynne bowed his head upon his hand, where his arm rested upon the table, and the detective felt a qualm of pity for him then, for the first time, for he could see that the man was trembling violently, and he wondered if it had been acting after all, and if the grief of the man had not been real.