"Who has been murdered?"
As "Mr. Colton"—who was no other than Nick Carter—asked this question, his face looked as innocent as a babe's. He seemed surprised to hear that there had been a murder, though his companion, Lawrence Deever, had been saying so repeatedly during the last half hour.
Deever now looked at Nick with eyes and mouth wide open.
"Who has been murdered?" he repeated. "My brother has been murdered."
"What makes you think so?" asked Nick, calmly.
"What, indeed!" exclaimed Deever. "I have told you already."
"No, you haven't. You have told me that your brother has been missing since night before last."
"I told you more than that," cried Deever. "He is known to have quarreled with that man Jarvis."
"Dr. Jarvis, of St. Agnes' Hospital?"
"Of course. And I have proved—"