“And no one when the carriage arrived home,” replied Mrs. Constant. “But a man did get into that carriage, supposing I was in it, and killed her. I know who it was, and so do you.”
Nick raised his hand, warningly, and said:
“Mention no names, Mrs. Constant. Charge no one with so awful a deed. Trust to me. I will investigate that line to the end, but let your suspicions be unsaid, or, if you must talk of them, talk only to me.”
Mrs. Constant first turned impatiently away, but as impulsively turned back and placed her hand in Nick’s, saying:
“You are Edith’s husband as well. I will trust everything to you.”
“That is good,” said Nick. “Now a practical question. The driver of that coach, who was he?”
“The same as my own coachman. I have an arrangement with a livery stable near by, by which I have the same carriage, horses and driver by the month. The carriage is used by no one but me, and the coachman drives nobody but me.”
Securing the address of this livery stable and the name of the driver, Nick hurried to the stable, telling Mrs. Constant that he would return soon.
He found the driver without difficulty, and from him learned the course taken by Ethel Romney and the places she had called at.
The story he told was a straight one.