Chapter IV: Marked in Dust

The mention of Nick Carter’s name, following close upon his positive accusations, produced an immediate change in the attitude of the three recreant medical students. Defiance vanished like a flash from the face of the one who had been talking, and whom Nick now suspected of being the leader in the crime of the previous night.

Another was trembling visibly, while the third impulsively blurted, as if impelled by the detective’s advice:

“There’s nothing to it, Oakley, but to confess the whole business. Neither bluff nor bluster will cut any ice against Nick Carter. Good heavens! what possessed me to do such a thing?”

“That’s not the question,” said Oakley, a bit sullenly. “You now have confessed the whole business, barring the outcome. Only the devil himself can explain that. The question is--what became of the body?”

Nick Carter heard the last with no great surprise. It was in line with his earlier suspicions. He saw, too, with what consternation Doctor Dabney and the other students began to realize what had been done the night before, and he checked with a gesture the censure that was rising to the lips of the astounded physician.

“You hold your horses, Doctor Dabney, and let me handle the ribbons,” he said impressively. “The reputation of your college is at stake, and I am much better able to save it than you, providing the remorse of these young men is genuine and they follow my advice. The good name of your institution should not be ruined by the foolishness of a few of your students, if it can possibly be prevented. I think they now will see it in the same light and do all in their power to rectify their folly. What do you say, Mr. Oakley?”

Oakley threw up his hands and met the detective better than halfway.

“I say that you’re all wool and a yard wide, Mr. Carter,” he cried, with genuine feeling. “I’ll speak for the others and tell you the whole story. Not only that, sir, but we’ll do all we can to repair the wrong.”

“Spoken like a man,” Nick replied. “I learned long ago that a manly man can be brought out flat-footed with proper handling. What is the whole story, Mr. Oakley?”

“It can be told with a breath, Mr. Carter, and I’ll hand it to you straight,” said Oakley. “We were out late last night, I and these three companions, and we drank a bit more than we should have done. When wine goes in, wisdom and discretion go out, sir, and that was the beginning of it.”

“Continue, Mr. Oakley,” said Nick.

“Well, sir, we came to Fink’s place along about one o’clock, and we saw that a corpse had been taken in there. We learned from a chap who had overheard the facts, that it was the corpse of a notorious criminal, and that it was to remain in Fink’s place till this morning, instead of being sent to the morgue.”

“That was correct.”

“Well, sir, in the heat of wine, I suggested to my companions that we ought to have that criminal’s brain for examination, in the interests of medical science and the possible benefit to society. It was a mad suggestion, but not too mad for my companions. We were just right to do what, if in our sober senses, we would not have done for the world.”

“In brief, Mr. Oakley, you went there and stole the body,” said Nick.

“That’s just what we did, sir, and precisely as you have stated,” Oakley admitted. “We came here and quietly got out the wagon, also a short ladder with which to reach the undertaker’s back window, which we had located before going away. We brought the body here about four o’clock this morning. We did not dare to leave it in the box, however, which we had taken from the room you have just inspected. We replaced the box in the room, but hid the body in the basement under the dissecting room.”

“It then was about four o’clock?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Continue.”

“We already had begun to realize, of course, the gravity of the crime we had committed,” Oakley proceeded. “We went to my apartments in the street below, but not to go to bed, for we were much too nervous to sleep. We held a long discussion of the matter and the situation in which we had placed ourselves, and we finally determined to replace the corpse in the wagon and to return it to Fink’s place, making a frank confession of our guilt and relying upon his mercy. But we found, upon returning to the basement, that we could not do so.”

“Could not, Mr. Oakley?”

“No, sir,” cried Oakley, with augmented feeling. “It was impossible for us to do so. Imagine our surprise, our consternation, our utterly inexpressible dismay.”

“You mean----”

“I mean, sir, that the body was gone.”

“That’s true, Mr. Carter,” groaned another of the culprits. “Every word of it is true as gospel. The corpse had vanished as if the earth had swallowed it. We searched in vain. Good heavens, what a mess! I thought, sir, I was going daffy.”

Nick Carter was less surprised than the other hearers. He had begun to suspect what had really occurred and how it was possible. He paused to briefly consider the matter from every standpoint, aiming to act for the best, while Doctor David Dabney relieved his pent-up feelings in terms that would read even worse than they sounded, and while the half score of students who had gathered near by stared in mute amazement over the bewildering affair.

Nick presently took the ribbons again, however, saying with an impressiveness that never failed to prove effective:

“There is nothing in harsh words, Doctor Dabney, at this stage of the game. We must meet the situation in the best way and attempt to remedy it without too much publicity. I am not going to arrest these young men at present, nor later if it can be avoided.”

“Good for you, sir,” cried Oakley gratefully.

“I shall bind them on their honor to remain here, as usual, and these other students, as well as yourself, to say nothing about this matter,” Nick added. “Upon your silence and theirs may depend the effect of all this upon your institution. I happen to know all about the criminal whose body seems to have disappeared so mysteriously, and the recovery of which is of much more importance to me, as well as to the community, than the immediate censure and punishment of these four students. You must do what I have directed, therefore, while I shall take immediate steps to trace the missing body.”

Nick’s consideration and advice had the effect he anticipated. Doctor Dabney subdued his anger and eagerly seized the opportunity to avoid publicity. The relief of the four culprits was beyond description, and one and all who were present pledged themselves to strictly follow the detective’s instructions.

Thus the matter was adjusted temporarily, at least, and Nick then turned to Oakley and said:

“Conduct me to the basement, now, and show me where you left the body. In the meantime, Doctor Dabney, that there may appear to be nothing unusual going on here, have all of your other students attend the lecture you had planned to deliver. There is, in fact, no occasion to postpone it. I will undertake with my two assistants to do all that the case now requires. Lead the way, Oakley, that no time may be lost.”

The last was said with a significant glance at Chick and Patsy, and the three detectives followed Oakley toward the basement door, while Doctor Dabney and the gathering students trooped toward the entrance to the annex in accord with Nick Carter’s instructions.

“I happen to have a key that will open this door, Mr. Carter, or we must have found some other hiding place for the body,” Oakley explained, while unlocking the basement door. “How it was discovered and removed by others--well, sir, that beats me to a frazzle. I was literally knocked stiff when I found it missing.”

“Had you detected any sign of life, Oakley, while handling it?” Nick inquired. “I infer, of course, that you had not.”

“Not the slightest, Mr. Carter,” said Oakley, with a look of surprise. “You surely do not suspect----”

“Never mind what I suspect,” Nick interrupted, while descending to the basement. “Show me just where you placed the body.”

Oakley led the way to a corner back of some coal bins and pointed to the floor.

“We left it there, sir,” he said simply.

“With a covering over it?”

“Yes, sir; the sheet brought from Fink’s place.”

“Nothing else?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you lock the door after going out with your companions?”

“That was not necessary,” Oakley explained. “It has an automatic spring lock, like many of the doors in this building, which can be opened from within, though a key is required by one entering from outside. They were equipped with locks of that kind because students frequently are the last to leave the building, and it obviated providing keys for all.”

“I see,” Nick remarked. “One can leave this basement without a key, then?”

“Yes, sir; easily.”

Nick took out his electric searchlight and began a close inspection of the cement floor. It was covered with a thin, almost imperceptible layer of dust, mingled with which were particles of coal dust, quite plainly visible with the aid of a powerful lens.

“You have given it to me straight, Oakley, all right,” Nick remarked, after a moment, looking up. “My lens shows where the dust has been disturbed, and I can determine part of the outline of the body. There appears to have been considerable moving about, however, either by----”

“Surely not by the body!” Oakley exclaimed, staring.

“Don’t be so sure of that,” Nick said dryly. “Things aren’t always what they seem. We may find that--ah, I find it even sooner than I expected. Here is one--yes, a second and third. This tells the story.”

“What is it?” cried Oakley impulsively.

“Have a look, Chick,” said Nick. “Use my lens.”

Chick hastened to comply, viewing one of several faint bits of evidence on the dusty floor.

“What is it?” Oakley repeated, quivering with excitement.

Chick looked up and replied:

“It’s a faint print in the dust--the print of a naked foot.”