CHAPTER XI.
PLANNING A CAMPAIGN.
The three turned then to the duty in hand.
But it was only a cursory examination of the surroundings that they made, since the doctor and the chief had both already been in that room and had investigated as far as it had been possible or even necessary.
Nick stood back and a little to one side while the two approached the dead girl upon the couch, and for a moment the chief stood looking down upon her with all that adoration which a strong man of middle age feels for a pure young soul such as Edythe Lynne’s had been.
Finally he turned to the detective.
“Mr. Carter,� he said, with slow solemnity, “what I said a moment ago is true. If you had come to me and told me that this girl was dead and that she had killed herself, and that you had seen her do it, I would have told you that you were a liar. She wasn’t the sort that kills herself; not much. So far as I am concerned, the examination is over.�
He hesitated a moment, and then added, with grave dignity:
“What I want to do now, is to find that man that did it. I want to find him.�
“Do you want to find him without fear or favor?� asked the detective quietly.
“I do, sir, without fear or favor. There ain’t no man in all the world that is big enough or great enough, or near enough to me in any way, to get one grain of consideration from me if he did this thing.�