“Found it, didn’t you?” exclaimed Jimmy, with a return of his old assurance. He had managed to raise himself to a sitting posture, and to turn about so that he had a full and uninterrupted view of the exposure, when it happened. When nobody replied to him, but remained staring in more or less stupid wonder at what had taken place, he added: “Now, I wonder how in the world you knew it was there, Carter? Did Miss Nightingale tell you where she had hidden it?” Nick made no reply—in words. But he did take a hasty stride or two across the floor, pulling his handkerchief from his pocket as he did so, and the next instant Jimmy’s jaws were forced apart, and the soft linen of the handkerchief was introduced between them. “I told you that I would gag you if you interrupted,” said the detective; and then, as Lenore attempted to rush forward toward her lover, the detective restrained her. “Young lady,” he said, “I honor you for your loyalty. You are ready to fight for, and to defend with your last breath, the man who has been your accepted sweetheart. It is hard for you to believe that he is not the man he has pretended to be.” “I won’t believe it. I will never believe it!” she cried out. “You are no better than a brute to treat him so, Nick Carter. I hate you!” Nick smiled down upon her, somewhat sadly. “Some day you will thank me,” he told her. “In the meantime, you must be patient. But, tell me. Do you also hate Miss Nightingale?” “Hate Nan? No; I love her. But she has had nothing to do with this——” she stopped; and again the detective looked at her and smiled. Then, in a low tone, he spoke to her again. “Do you believe that Nan stole your necklace?” he asked, so that the others, who were now examining it, could not hear. “No; I don’t.” “You would never believe that of your friend Nan, would you?” “Indeed I would not.” “But somebody did steal the necklace. Now, who do you suppose it was?” “I should sooner think that you did it than that he did,” she retorted. At that point they were interrupted by Mrs. Remsen, and as that lady spoke, all the others in the room turned and looked squarely at Nick Carter. “Mr. Carter,” she said, “I would like you to tell me, if you please, how you knew that the necklace was inside that vase?” The question was a cold one. It was not reassuring. Nick saw that the spectators of the scene were now regarding him with suspicion. “I did not know that it was there,” he replied. “I only suspected it. As I stated before we discovered it, I was satisfied, by things that the thief said to me, that he had concealed the necklace in these rooms, or that he intended to do so. It was part of his plan.” “But——”