“I certainly do,” Nick declared. “Danny undoubtedly is right in thinking that the unknown man was going to the Darling residence. The fact that he has an interest there, and also in Kate Crandall, denotes plainly enough that Cyrus Darling also had an interest in the woman. The stranger, in view of his conduct, forms a connecting link between the other two, so to speak.” “I see the point,” Chick replied. “Gee! that point is plain enough,” put in Patsy. “But, holy smoke, it must be a case of suicide. How else can you size it up, chief? Darling had been in the dumps for two or three months, as down in the mouth as a sick horse, according to his wife’s story. Crooks could not have forced him to feign despondency for that length of time. In my opinion, chief, he just about blew in all of his money with some other woman, and blew out his brains when his bundle was gone. That’s how I size it up.” “Really?” queried Nick dryly. “That’s what. He certainly shot himself, chief, if what Doctor Lyons told you is true.” “If what Doctor Lyons told me is true, Patsy, you probably are entirely wrong.” “Wrong?” “It’s a hundred to one.” “Why so, chief?” “Because in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred a person who commits suicide with a revolver shoots himself in the head,” said Nick. “That is the most natural spot for a suicide to select. He knows that a bullet in the brain will instantly render him insensible and preclude conscious suffering. Even if he does not stop to reason about it, he instinctively selects his head in which to send the fatal bullet. The records corroborate me. How often do you hear of a man shooting himself in the heart or lungs?” “Very seldom, indeed,” Chick agreed. “I don’t know that I ever heard of a case.” “But what of that?” questioned Patsy argumentatively. “I don’t see how that cuts any ice. Darling could have shot himself in the head.” “I admit that he could--but he didn’t,” Nick said dryly. “Why are you so sure of it, chief?” “Because the bullet would have made a hole in his skull. Even if sent into his mouth, or through an eye, it would surely have passed through the brain and have fractured, at least, the back of the skull. Doctor Lyons is positive, however, that the skull was intact. I questioned him particularly about that. Admitting that my premises are correct, then, it’s a hundred to one that Cyrus Darling did not shoot himself.” “Gee! there’s no getting around that argument,” Patsy thoughtfully allowed. “You must be right, chief, after all.” “I think so.” “But how came the revolver near him? Some one else must have shot him. In that case, chief, he must have been murdered, as Doctor Lyons and Lawyer Clayton suspect.” “On the contrary, Patsy, both of them are wrong,” Nick said confidently. “Cyrus Darling was not shot at all.” “Not shot at all!” echoed Patsy incredulously. “That is my opinion.” “Gee! that beats me. Why was the revolver there, then? Why----”