“In your last letter to Mr. Carter,” said Ida, “you hinted that a woman was at the bottom of the disappearance of Mr. Ellison.” “I’m sure of it,” said Miss Rainforth, “and it is the Ladew woman. She was at the reception and she was in the house when he went away.” “And you were, too,” said Ida. “I was, and it was from the Ladew woman that I found out that he had run away. If she wasn’t at the bottom of it, how did she know of it when nobody else did?” Ida now made up her mind that she had gotten at the bottom of Miss Rainforth’s connection with the matter. She was certain that Miss Rainforth was in love with Ellison and had herself hoped to be Mrs. Ellison; that, possibly, there had been tender passages between herself and Ellison which had been interrupted by Ellison’s intrigue with Mrs. Ladew, and, escaping from that, he had not returned to Miss Rainforth, but had devoted himself to Miss Sanborn; and that, in her jealousy and disappointment, Miss Rainforth had first tried to break up the marriage and, secondly, punish Mrs. Ladew by directing Nick Carter’s suspicions to her. Ida’s substantial gain had been knowledge of Ellison’s relations to a gang of sharpers in Philadelphia, of whom Lannigan undoubtedly was one. And she believed that nothing more of value was to be obtained from the young woman. “You have been wise,” said Ida, “in being plain with me. We shall be able to protect your name and reputation. And that we will do.” She rose from her seat, and, as she did so, Miss Rainforth said: “What I did last night that brought suspicion on me was to try and find where Mr. Ellison was taken.” “Taken?” repeated Ida. “Yes, taken,” continued Miss Rainforth. “I am satisfied that Mr. Ellison was lured from the house to be seized and carried off.” However startling this idea was, Ida found, on pursuing it, that the young lady, Miss Rainforth, had nothing better than her suspicion to base it on. Therefore, Ida went away, but not until Miss Rainforth had promised that, if anything additional came to her knowledge, she would send word of it to Nick Carter. But Ida thought that, as a person of concern in the case, Miss Rainforth had now ceased to be important. CHAPTER XXIII. ON LANNIGAN’S TRAIL. While Ida had been having her forceful interview with Miss Rainforth, Chick and Patsy had journeyed to Philadelphia. On their way thither, on the train, they had become aware that the woman, Mrs. Ladew, was also a fellow passenger. She was alone, having no attendant. Chick had said to Patsy: “I don’t know what value there will be in following Mrs. Ladew. What she probably will do will be to go directly to her home. However, I think one of us ought to follow her to see if she has any communication with the parties we are after.” Patsy had said that he would undertake that work and they made arrangements for meeting after he had finished the shadow.