“Take it from me, Nick. Pauline Perrot is a remarkably clever crook. I’ll wager my pile that she is the one who robbed the vault, in spite of Gordon’s mysterious absence and his suspected relations with her.” Nick smiled a bit oddly. “Have a look at this evidence, Chick, while I tell you where we found it,” he replied. “You may change your mind.” Chick hastened to comply, while Nick mentioned all of the essential points in the case, as thus far presented. Chick’s face became more grave while he looked and listened. He twice read the letter found in Pauline Perrot’s wastebasket, bearing Gordon’s signature, and then he glanced at the bloodstained garments she was known to have worn when last seen with him. “By Jove, I may be wrong, after all,” he said seriously. “The case looks different to me. It must have been Gordon himself who took the bonds and money from the vault. Are you sure this is his writing?” “Here is a specimen of his writing,” said Nick, taking a letter from the library desk. “Compare them.” CHAPTER VI. NICK CARTER’S FINE WORK. Chick Carter was not long in coming to a conclusion concerning the two letters Nick had submitted to him. “By Jove, the writing appears to be identical,” said he, after a careful inspection. “If this one in French is a forgery, Nick, it’s a mighty clever one.” “Don’t overlook something,” said Nick, smiling a bit oddly. “What’s that?” “You already have sized up Pauline Perrot as a clever crook.” “That’s true,” Chick admitted. “In proof of it, assuming this Gordon letter to be genuine, it shows plainly that she has involved him in some kind of a desperate situation, so desperate that he evidently consented to elope with her, despite that he closes by intimating that he might attempt to kill her.” “Obviously,” Nick agreed. “Has he done it?” Chick glanced at the bloodstained hat, jacket and handkerchief. “Did he really go the limit and execute his threat? These things certainly point to that. Combined with all of the other circumstances, Nick, it establishes an almost sure case of murder.” “One that, in case Gordon cannot be found, would convince a court and jury?” “Surely.” “Suppose the body should not be found?” suggested Nick. “I think the case still would stand,” Chick replied. “A jury would surely convict on such circumstantial evidence as this.” Nick smiled again. “That’s why I have dug into it for all I am worth,” he said dryly. “I will show you a few points that you fail to detect.” “You mean?” “These few hairs, Chick, to begin with,” said Nick, taking them from a scrap of paper on which he had placed them. “Mrs. Lord told me that Pauline Perrot had stolen a brush and comb. That suggested something to me.” “What was that?”