“Did he simply step in to get a drink, or did he follow Lawrence in?
“I’m puzzled.”
The detective arose from his chair and commenced to pace back and forth across the room.
All the time he puffed away vigorously on his cigar and blew the smoke out in a long stream. Whenever he was annoyed about anything he always smoked in this way. He was so deep in thought that he did not hear a knock on the door until the person without had knocked several times.
Carter halted in the center of the room and called out:
“Come in.”
The door was opened by Nick’s butler and Peter Wright entered the room.
At a glance the detective saw he was excited.
“I’m glad you are in, Mr. Carter,” Wright ejaculated, as he sank down in a chair.
He was puffing and blowing from exertion, and it was several minutes before he became composed. He mopped his brow with a large red bandanna and laid his hat down on the floor by the side of his chair.