Chapter V: Where the Trail Led

“Subdue your surprise. This is no more than I was expecting to find,” said Nick Carter, glancing at Oakley’s amazed face. “I have picked up a trail which I felt sure I must seek, sooner or later, and to find where it leads now is of paramount importance.”

“Gee! that’s right, chief, for fair,” said Patsy. “This man hunt now opens in earnest.”

“I shall need you no longer, Oakley,” Nick added. “You had better join the other students at the lecture. I will do what I can to pull you fellows out of this scrape, but much will depend upon what already has been published, and upon my success in finding the missing man. No, no, don’t demur over going, nor stop to thank me. Time now is of double value. Go at once.”

Oakley appeared anxious to remain to follow farther the detective’s investigations, but the expression in Nick’s eyes warned him against objecting, and he turned with a nod and a mere word of thanks and hurried from the basement.

“By Jove, this is a most extraordinary case,” Chick then said, a bit grimly. “Have you now any doubt, Nick, that Margate still is alive?”

“Not the slightest,” Nick replied. “I have felt from the first that that was the case.”

“But how could he have accomplished----”

“Oh, the circumstances admit of only one explanation,” Nick interposed. “Margate had, when we cornered him, some kind of a drug or compound which, when swallowed, instantly produced a physical condition so closely resembling death that it deceived not only us, but also Doctor Nolan and the undertaker.”

“It did, indeed.”

“The condition, which was probably a form of catalepsy, evidently lasts a definite number of hours, depending in a measure upon the health and strength of the subject, and concerning which Margate must have been perfectly informed.”

“Surely.”

“He took the one chance that, if supposed to be dead, he would throw off the effects of the drug and revive at such a time and in such surroundings as would permit of immediate flight.”

“The drug evidently ceased to be effective between four o’clock and daylight.”

“Undoubtedly,” said Nick. “That would have served him admirably if he had remained in Fink’s back room. He could have arisen and quietly dressed himself, his garments having been left in the room, and he could easily have made his escape.”

“Sure, chief,” put in Patsy. “Like turning over in bed.”

“The job done by the students, however, put him in bad,” Nick added. “He must have revived in this basement, in a building in which he probably could not obtain a rag of clothing, aside from the sheet with which he was covered. Immediate flight, however, was imperative. He luckily had the advantage of darkness, and he probably fled at once, wrapped only in the sheet. His first move, of course, was to find garments by some hook or crook and in some near quarter, and I think we can learn where he got them.”

“He did not break into Dabney’s house, nor the rooms of any of the students, or the fact would have been reported,” said Chick.

“He would have been less likely to do that, Chick, than to have sought some near residence occupied by fewer persons and presenting less danger of detection and arrest.”

“That’s true.”

“I will try with Patsy to follow up the trail,” said Nick, turning to the door. “You go to Doctor Nolan’s office in the meantime and get the vial still containing some of the drug, or compound, used by Margate. Take it to Professor George Arden, whose address you will find in the directory. He is one of the leading chemists in the country, and he probably will be able to tell us of what the stuff consists.”

“Most likely,” Chick agreed. “Where will I see you later?”

“At the Willard. We will return about noon for lunch.”

“Very good. I’ll be there,” Chick nodded, turning to go.

They had emerged from the basement while speaking, and Nick and Patsy now began seeking the trail of the missing man. Neither in the driveway, nor on the surrounding lawns, could they discover any sign of a bare footprint, however, and Nick paused after a few moments and said:

“We must use our heads and determine what direction he naturally would have taken. He would not have ventured to the lighted streets. He would have known he might be seen and arrested.”

“That would have been very probable, chief, for fair,” said Patsy.

“He may have crossed the rear grounds, therefore, and perhaps saw that house which fronts on the avenue. The roof could have been seen above the trees, even in the darkness.”

“That’s right, too.”

“We’ll go that way, Patsy, and see what we can learn. Keep your eyes open for footprints.”

“Bet you!” said Patsy sententiously.

It took them only a few minutes to cross the Dabney grounds, when they brought up at a low wall flanking the rear of the estate Nick had noticed when he first arrived in that locality. It now struck him even more familiarly, though he never had seen the rear grounds, nor that side of the imposing wooden residence.

“Come on,” he said, leaping over the wall. “The direct course, if Margate had his head and really came this way, would have been around the garage and across the side lawn.”

“Sure, chief, if he was heading for the house,” said Patsy.

“A dwelling is where he most likely would have sought clothing,” Nick replied. “A knave as desperate as he and as sorely in need of garments would not have shrunk from breaking in and----”

“Gee! half a minute, chief,” Patsy now cried, interrupting. “Yes, I’m right. Here’s the print of a bare foot.”

Patsy had discovered it in some loose earth near the garage and hastened to inspect it. There was no mistaking it, for it was distinctly outlined in the damp soil, and it showed plainly in which direction the man was going.

“He was heading for the house, chief, just as you have suspected,” Patsy added, turning to look for another.

“I was sure he would seek some dwelling,” Nick replied. “Which one was the only question. It naturally would be the one most safely and quickly approached, and that was why I came this way. We’ll inquire whether anything has been stolen, or--hello! some one is calling my name. By Jove, it’s Senator Barclay. That explains it. I thought I recognized this place, though I have called here only twice.”

“Gee! he’s some excited, chief,” said Patsy. “I guess you have hit the nail on the head, all right.”

Senator Barclay, who had emerged from a side door of the house, had been hurrying toward them while they were speaking. He was hatless and wore a loose velvet smoking jacket, and he looked pale and excited, indeed, in the morning sunlight.

“I saw you from the library window, Nick,” he cried, upon drawing nearer. “What brought you here? I’ve been trying vainly to get you by telephone. I was told that you left the Willard before breakfast.”

“So I did,” Nick replied, shaking hands with him. “I was called out on a rather curious case. But what do you want of me, Senator Barclay, and why are you so disturbed?” he added tentatively.

“I have cause to be disturbed, most serious cause,” Senator Barclay answered, with an effort to govern his feelings. “I will tell you of that a little later. My house has been robbed--a most amazing robbery.”

“Why amazing, senator?”

“Judge for yourself. Every piece of my clothing, removed when I went to bed last night, was carried away by the thief. Shoes, stockings, underwear, shirt, and outside garments--not a piece was left behind by the rascal. Why he took such articles is more than I can fathom. Why he----”

“One moment,” Nick interposed, with a furtive glance at Patsy. “Did he take anything else of value?”

“I should say he did,” Senator Barclay cried impetuously. “My pocketbook containing several hundred dollars, my diamond pin worth nearly a thousand, my watch and chain--all of them went with the garments.”

“H’m, I see.”

“Not content with them, moreover, the rascal robbed the sleeping room of my daughter Estella, and got away with considerable money and a quantity of costly jewelry, which unfortunately had not been put in the library safe.”

“Your loss will aggregate, then----”

“Ten thousand dollars, at least, as far as the plunder goes. But that is nothing, absolutely nothing, Nick, compared with the loss of one other article,” Senator Barclay said, with a groan.

“One other article?” Nick echoed, gazing at his white face. “What is that?”

“I cannot tell you--not here,” was the reply. “I must talk with you privately. Come to the house. Stella is nearly prostrated, but she does not dream of my distress and anxiety. I have hidden the truth from her, even, and can confide only in you, Nick. For you are the one man on whom I can depend, who may be able to successfully meet the situation. Come to the house. I then will inform you.”

“Very well,” Nick consented. “I understand, now, why you were so anxious to reach me.”

“I was more than anxious, more than anxious,” Senator Barclay repeated, while Nick and Patsy accompanied him toward the house. “There is another mysterious feature in connection with this robbery, Nick; one that seems utterly inexplicable.”

“What is that?” Nick inquired.

“The thief, or thieves, as the case may be, left a soiled sheet in the butler’s pantry, which they entered by breaking the window and unlocking it. The pantry is so shut in that the noise was not heard. The robbery was not discovered until Estella awoke early this morning and found that her room had been entered. Why the burglars had a soiled sheet, which looks as if it had been through a war, puzzled me even more than----”

“It does not puzzle me, Senator Barclay,” Nick interposed.

“No?”

The statesman gazed at Nick with a look of amazement.

“Not at all,” Nick added. “There was only one burglar, senator, and I happen to know why he had a soiled sheet.”

“Good heavens! is it possible?” Senator Barclay replied, with countenance beginning to brighten. “There are hundreds of brilliant and discerning men in the circle of my acquaintance, Carter, but you certainly have something on all of them. What do you mean? How do you know there was only one burglar, and why he left a soiled sheet in my house? By gracious, I begin to feel that you may yet avert the calamity that threatens me.”

“Let’s wait until we are seated in our library, senator,” Nick replied, smiling. “I then will answer your questions and learn what you require of me. It goes without saying, of course, that I will do all in my power to avert any calamity that threatens you.”