"I will invite that Spaniard to accompany me to some out-of-the-way place; I will overcome and force him to give up the note."
"You mean you would commit murder?"
"No."
"And you must not, my son. We have gone far enough in crime. I will never consent to the crime of murder."
"We need not murder him, we can abduct him and keep him out of the way until our plans are completed."
"Yes, we might do that if we could succeed, then we could force matters and let him loose later, even pay him an indemnity and return to Europe. My good husband would not object as long as it did not cost him anything."
"We must do something, and we must act at once."
"August, you are a brave and skillful man. Now you know the real danger you will be able to devise some plan, but no time must be lost; we must move rapidly. Let us get this immediate danger removed and we can bring the other matter about at once, but it is strange how obstinate and determined that girl is. There we must force matters, but I did hope that we would secure money enough to go to Europe. If we could carry her to Europe we would be all right. We could furnish proofs of her identity, secure the money, and all would be well, but she must first be your wife, and I repeat, if she does not consent, then I will assent to the plan you proposed. It is a terrible device, but she must be your wife, and that within forty-eight hours. If she does not yield we will force matters, and she will be glad to become the baroness."
The mystery was indeed all clearing up, and the detective overheard every word of the conversation, and our readers can only imagine his emotions and excitement, as we will not attempt to describe either.