Nicholas Carter

“ Anybody who couldn't get up a respectable ghost in the old Plummer house must be a very poor fakir.
The mere fact that all the doors and windows of a room were closed did not prevent any person from going in or out at will, if he knew the secrets of the house.
Nick thought of these things as he rode down there in the cars, and he prepared himself for an interesting time, chasing bogus ghosts through secret doors and panels. ”

“ Nick glanced into these rooms, and then turned toward the desk. As he did so he saw a waiter coming down the stairs from the floor above.
This man was known by the name of Gaspard. He was the head waiter, and was on duty in the lower hall.
"Ah, Gaspard," said Nick, "who's your waiter on this floor to-night?"
Gaspard looked at Nick anxiously. He did not, of course, know who the detective really was, but he remembered him as one who had assisted the police in a case in which that house had been concerned about two years before.
"Jean Corbut," replied Gaspard. "I hope nothing is wrong." ”

“ Nick Carter's friends often ask him whether, in the course of his remarkable experience as a detective, he has ever encountered anything which could not have been the work of human hands.
Few people, nowadays, will own that they believe in ghosts. Yet most of us would be less sure about it in a grave-yard at midnight than on Broadway at noon.
A man who can tell a reasonable story about having seen a ghost may not find many believers, but he will get plenty of listeners, for we are all eager to hear about such things. ”

“ Therefore, as Hammond had recognized Gaspard, he must be the man who was in room A, because the man in room B had not seen the head waiter, according to Gaspard's story.
Hammond, after the first shock of surprise, recovered his nerve wonderfully.
He calmly took a chair and sat there in deep thought for nearly five minutes. He paid no attention to questions.
Finally he looked up and said:
"I don't know why I should deny it to you. There is no charge against the man in room A."
"None whatever," said Nick. "He is wanted merely as a witness." ”

“ Deever made an impatient gesture.
"Remember," said Nick, "that an accusation of murder leaves an indelible stain. We cannot move too carefully."
"You will let him escape."
"His escape is utterly impossible," said Nick. "He is watched."
"A good many men have been watched and have got away."
"Nobody ever got away from the man who is watching Jarvis," said Nick, quietly; and that praise was not too high, for the person in question was Nick's famous assistant, Chick. ”

“ But a complete expose could not have been long delayed. In spite of the odds against him, Nick was certain to come out ahead.
He called out to Colonel Richmond:
"Look! Look at this! It's a man!"
Just at that instant a tall man who had been standing beside the female "medium," and acting as master of ceremonies, seized an ornament from the mantelpiece, and hurled it not at Nick, as the detective expected, but at the lamp in the corner of the room. ”

“ Prescott and Miss Allen told the truth. Flint, prompted by Deever, told exactly the same story.
"Therefore, Deever must have known precisely what the facts were. Investigation convinces me that he could have known them in only one way—by being himself the person who performed the acts described."
"Do you mean to accuse me of murdering my brother?" demanded Deever.
"Certainly not," said Nick. "Do you remember the question I asked you on the first day of the investigation? I asked, 'Who has been murdered?'"
"Well?"
"I answer that question now. Nobody has been murdered. ”

“ For some minutes Deever kept silent. From time to time he glanced astern.
There was no doubt about it; the Curlew was gaining.
"Can you get any more speed out of her?" he said at last, in desperation.
"Reckon I kin," said the tar. "Shall I take her?"
"Yes, and if you outrun them I'll give you a hundred dollars."
"All right."
The grizzled seaman took the helm. In ten minutes it began to look blue for Patsy and his chief. The Clio had reasserted her superiority. She was slowly dropping the Curlew astern.
When they tacked on the other side of the river the Clio had doubled her lead. ”

“ The doctor was trembling violently. Evidently fear had taken possession of him.
"Get away?" asked Nick, as if surprised.
"Yes; I'm afraid of you. You will talk."
"But where shall I go?"
"Go to Australia," said Dr. Jarvis, after a moment's reflection. "You have no family. It makes no difference to you where you go, so long as you have money."
"How much money?"
"In that safe," said the doctor, pointing to a steel box in the corner, "there is enough to start you. I have about five thousand dollars in cash there, and I will send ten times as much more after you. Is that enough?" ”

“ It was evident that the family was a good deal ashamed of Colonel Richmond's spiritualistic delusions and wanted to keep quiet about them.
"I talked Horace into it after a while," Mrs. Pond continued, "and at last he became as enthusiastic as myself. We know that you will find the thief."
"Thank you," responded Nick. "There is one point which seems peculiar to me. After you had been robbed once, why did you continue to leave the jewels unwatched in the very place from which one of them had previously been taken?" ”

“ Hammond's words had the ring of truth. Neither the superintendent nor Nick nor any other person there doubted a single statement of his story.
"When Gaspard identified me as the man in room A," Hammond continued, "I thought I saw a chance to save Mr. Jones very easily, and so I told a falsehood."
"It was a foolish thing to do," said Nick. "The truth is always best. If we had known at the outset what we know now, Mr. Jones might have been spared a great deal of trouble. Since the woman committed suicide—"
"Hold on!" cried the superintendent. "How do you account for the murder of Corbut?" ”

“ Chick's investigations satisfy me as to the man's character and motives. Then we acquit the doctor at once."
"This is nonsense," cried Deever. "I will not be silent any longer."
"Yes, you will," said Byrnes, in a voice that secured obedience.
"It acquits the doctor, I say," continued Nick. "He could never have lifted that body to the top of the wall. There's a physical impossibility in the way of a belief that he is guilty.
"It takes a very strong man to raise a dead body weighing one hundred and seventy-five pounds above his head in the manner described by Prescott. ”

“ Nick looked shrewdly at his youthful assistant. He is very fond of this bright boy, and gives him every chance to develop his theories in those cases in which he is employed.
"Come, my lad," said the famous detective, "tell me what has set you against Gaspard."
"He's going to skip."
"Is that so? Well, this is serious."
"It's a fact. I got it from one of the men in the restaurant. My man was told of it by Corbut."
"Corbut?"
"Yes; and there's another suspicious circumstance. There's a Frenchwoman who is going to give little old New York the shake at the same time as Gaspard. ”

“ He looked around for Chick, but that individual had disappeared. He had caught a glance from Nick when the latter had spoken of his assistant at the hospital, and had immediately slipped away under the shadow of the trees.
"That fellow will give it away," cried Deever. "That's what he sneaked for. He'll sell the news to the papers."
"If he does we can't help it," said Nick. "And as for you, I judge that you would not be sorry if he did."
"You are right," said Deever, looking grimly at Dr. Jarvis, "the sooner this murderer is held up before the public the better I'll be pleased." ”

“ Now tell me why you feel so sure of this man Jones' innocence."
"Will you promise to keep me out of this affair as much as you can?"
"Why do you wish it? What are you afraid of?"
"Well," said Hammond, looking very much embarrassed, "I'm a married man, very respectable sort of a fellow; and the lady with whom I dined was not my wife. It's all right, you know. My wife is not a jealous woman. ”

“ Doubtless the person who had driven him over had hustled him into the carriage at the earliest possible moment.
"A shrewd move," muttered Nick, "and a bad one for me. However, I've got this gang cornered, and if they've been doing the job at the colonel's house, their operations are over."
There was an excited group of people by the main door of the house. In the midst of them stood the medium, a fat and coarse woman, whom Nick had seen before in the same crooked business.
Those around her were the real believers in spiritualism, who had come to the show. ”

“ This affair would not be worth mentioning, except that it led Nick to one of the most peculiar and interesting criminal puzzles that he had ever come across in all his varied experience.
While Nick waited for his man he saw a closed carriage stop before the side door of the restaurant.
Almost immediately a waiter, bare-headed and wearing his white apron, came hurriedly out of the side door and got into the carriage, which instantly moved away at a rapid rate.
This incident struck Nick as being very peculiar. The waiter had acted like a man who was running away. ”

“ What kind of a detective do you think I'd make?"
"There isn't any one alive who could compare with you," said Nick.
"You're joking."
"No; I'm serious. There are plenty of detectives who can reason up to the wrong man, but none, I'm sure, who can do it so quickly as you can."
Mrs. Stevens laughed at her daughter's discomfiture, and the girl joined heartily.
"Supposing for a moment that your theory is true," continued Nick. "How do you suppose that Colonel Richmond managed to get the jewels over here?" ”

“ Jones—to judge by the light in the window observed by Musgrave—had decided to spend the evening.
Mr. Jones was not visible when Nick looked into the room.
The bedroom adjoining was also empty.
Nick ran through the flat, but saw nobody. He returned to the parlor, and there stood Mr. Jones under the chandelier.
"Well, upon my word!" exclaimed Jones, "how did you get here?"
"I might ask you the same," said Nick, "but it isn't worth while."
"I've been here all the time."
"Except when you were on the roof."
"Nonsense! What should I be doing on the roof." ”