“You may find her hiding about the station,” said Nick. “The girl is frightened half to death. Anton thinks she has the diamonds.”
“I don’t understand,” said Chick, but Nick would talk no more, so the assistant set out to the depot.
Nick then asked for Mrs. Maynard, and together they ascended to the maid’s room. The old lady was trembling violently, and it was with difficulty that Nick got her into the room. The results of the interview were far-reaching.
“Where is Bernice?” asked the old lady, at the close of the talk.
“She is waiting to get to New York,” was the reply.
“Yes, she asked permission to go, some time in the afternoon,” said the old lady, “and it was granted. The poor girl is half crazed.”
Nick smiled and escorted Mrs. Maynard back to the parlor.
“The case is clearing,” he thought. “If I only had a line on the whereabouts of the diamonds!”
At this moment Charley Maynard entered the parlor, which Nick was about to leave.
“There are strange doings about here,” he said. “Who did the shooting?”