If so, and Nick recalled the downfall of Cyrus Darling, had Mack also lost his head for this handsome, fascinating, yet thoroughly unscrupulous woman? If so, again, might not he and her very intimate friend, Jack Conroy, be one and the same? Going a step farther, might not David Mack have still other motives for the crime? Consider the size of the ransom demanded. Who so likely to demand half a million for the restoration of a six-year-old child, as a banker accustomed to handling millions? This was the process of reasoning, or part of it, that had started Nick in search of Patsy Garvan, to see what more he had learned and to give him additional instructions. This was the new idea, moreover, that he had imparted to Chick Carter before leaving his office, as already stated, together with instructions to his chief assistant. Resulting from all this, Chick Carter was doing some lively flying around while Nick was engaged as described. Chick’s first moves on the criminal chessboard were hurried visits to several banking and brokerage houses, where he finally obtained the information he was seeking--that a man named Jack Conroy dealt extensively with certain stock-market brokers, with whom he carried heavy margin accounts, and whose names the detective finally obtained. Chick then visited these brokers one after another, and he learned that the said Jack Conroy was carrying margin accounts aggregating more than half a million dollars, so distributed that neither broker had felt any misgivings, though comparatively little was known about the man. It was after four o’clock when Chick had gathered all of these facts, and he then made a bee line for the offices of Madden, Mellen & Mack. He found Madden and Mellen in the room in which Nick had conferred with them that morning, and Chick at once came down to business. “Is Mr. Mack absent?” he inquired, after evasively informing Mr. Madden that no definite clews had been discovered, much to the banker’s disappointment. “Yes, he has gone for the day,” said Mr. Mellen, replying. “He is to meet that infernal scoundrel, Redlaw, this evening,” Mr. Madden bitterly added. “Nick has told you, of course, about the rascal’s telephone communication to Mack?” “I know all about that,” Chick replied. “How long has Mr. Mack been gone?” “Since two o’clock. The assistant cashier is handling his work.” “Mack is cashier for this firm, then, I take it.” “Yes.” “Is he a wealthy man, Mr. Madden?” “No, not very,” said Madden, while both bankers appeared to wonder at the question. “Is he worth a million?” asked Chick carelessly. “Nothing like it.” “Half a million?” “No, nor half of that,” said Mr. Mellen. “He has only a small interest in this firm. His wife, who died a year ago, was a terrible spendthrift. I doubt that Mack could raise a hundred thousand dollars, to say nothing of half a million. His place up in Westchester County may be worth twenty thousand.” “Does he live there?”