Patsy needed no further hint to the design in Chick’s mind, nor to the possibility it presented. With eyes quickly glowing with eagerness and excitement, he hurriedly replied: “Get into it? Sure I can! The scheme is a corker! It’ll take me right into the midst of these rascals. Come on, Chick, and——” “Stop a moment,” cautioned Chick. “Get that policeman to help you, explaining who you are, and have him take away any stuff that may be in the hamper.” “And you?” “I’ll rush up-stairs, and keep those two women engaged till I’m sure you are well under cover.” “Good enough!” “And to-night you can count on me to lend a hand,” added Chick, “in case I am needed.” “That’s the idea!” cried Patsy. “Away with you, then, while I tackle the two women.” Patsy hastened toward the deserted automobile, near which a policeman happened to be standing, and whose aid the former quickly obtained in the way Chick had suggested. Chick, meantime, hastened into the building and up to the rooms of Madame Victoria. He found the two women in the reception-parlor, Vic Clayton engaged in changing her automobile coat for a long cloak. They had driven into town again, after securing Nick, only in order that they might be seen by the occupants of the stores near-by, with a view to subsequently obtaining the testimony of these observers, if the need arose, in support of some plausible story to the effect that they had brought Nick back to town and left him in some locality. Upon hearing Chick enter the room, both women turned toward him with looks of surprise. “I beg pardon, ladies,” said he, bowing. “I am looking for Madame Victoria.” “I am she,” replied Vic, sharply regarding him. “My name is Henderson, madame.” “What can I do for you, Mr. Henderson?” “I am looking for a gentleman who is said to have been here this afternoon, and with whom I have important business,” explained Chick, with a deliberation well calculated to give Patsy what time he would require below. He was quick to see, however, the suspicious gleam that instantly arose in Vic Clayton’s eyes upon learning his business, and he added, with some suavity: “I am unable to find the gentleman at his hotel, madame, and I thought he might still be here.” “Who is the gentleman?” asked Vic, with affected indifference. “His name is Nick Carter.” “Is he a friend of yours?” “An acquaintance only.” “How did you learn that he had been here, Mr. Henderson?” inquired Vic, now bestowing a gracious smile upon her questioner. “I was so informed by the clerk at the hotel, to whom Mr. Carter had mentioned his intention of coming here.” “Ah. I see.” “I inferred that Mr. Carter came here to consult you professionally, madame, and I thought his interview might possibly have lasted till now.” Chick easily detected the relief which his artful explanation had occasioned both women, and it convinced him that he was on the right track, yet he in no way betrayed his convictions.