A CURIOUS CLEW.
Nick Carter lost no time in seeking evidence that would prove
conclusively that Margate’s body had really been stolen. He followed
Fink through an interior room in which numerous coffins and caskets were
displayed in casements of the walls, and adjoining which was the back
room in which the body had lain.
It was about twelve feet square. Two windows overlooked a small back
yard, from which a narrow alley led out to a side street. The yard was
some six feet lower than the avenue on which the building fronted, and
below the back room was a basement used for a workroom and storage
purposes. A door led from the basement into the yard.
The bare bier stood nearly in the middle of the room.
The blinds of one of the windows was open, the others closed.
A sheet with which the body had been covered was missing.
The garments removed from the corpse the previous night hung on hooks in
one of the walls.
Nick quickly took in these features of the scene, and he speedily
learned from Fink that both blinds had been closed the night before,
that one window was open a few inches, that a door leading to the
basement stairs was both locked and bolted, as was true of the lower
one leading into the yard. Neither of them appeared to have been opened
by the crooks.
“Are these all of the garments removed from the body?” Nick inquired,
glancing at them.
“Yes, sir, every piece,” Fink declared.
“The remains were covered, you say?”
“Yes, sir; with a sheet, but that is gone,” said the undertaker.
“It certainly looks like a genuine case of body snatching,” Chick
remarked. “Assuming that your misgivings are warranted, Nick, and that
Margate tricked us with a drug and afterward revived, he surely would
have put on his clothing before departing. He would not have left here
unclad, or wrapped only in the missing sheet.”
“Drug be hanged!” Doctor Nolan said derisively. “That’s nonsense. That
theory hasn’t feet to stand on.”
“It does seem highly improbable,” added Chief Hadley, gravely shaking
his head. “I see no reasonable grounds for such a suspicion. It appears
dead open and shut that the corpse was stolen.”
“We must, then, find positive evidence of it,” Nick replied. “The crooks
must have left their tracks. It won’t do to remain in any uncertainty
concerning the death of Margate. This matter must be positively
settled.”
“Settled!” Doctor Nolan scornfully blurted. “It already is settled.
There’s no question about it.”
Nick Carter did not reply. He saw nothing to be gained by an argument in
support of his seemingly absurd suspicions.
Taking a powerful lens from his pocket, Nick fell to inspecting the
floor, the sill of the open window, and the outside of the faded green
blinds.
On the floor near the bier were particles of dry dirt, as if tracked in
on soiled shoes. The dust on the stone outside of the window had
recently been disturbed, while that on the slats of the blinds plainly
showed the marks of fingers, evidently thrust between them in order to
pull open the blinds.
Glancing down into the unpaved yard, Nick then discovered two quite deep
holes in the damp ground, some three feet from the wall and directly
opposite the window. He called Chick’s attention to them, remarking
quietly:
“There was a short ladder set up against this window.”
“I see. Surely.”
“The indications are, indeed, that Margate was really dead and that his
body was stolen. Either that, Chick, or he had confederates who removed
and afterward revived him.”
“But how could they have learned that he was brought here?” Chick
questioned doubtfully. “It was nearly midnight when we rounded him up,
and he was brought directly here from the building in which we cornered
him. Who could have learned about it, and how, between half past one and
daylight, to say nothing of having framed up and pulled off such a job?”
“That remains to be learned,” Nick replied. “Nor will that alone be
sufficient. His body must be traced and found. Go down with me to the
yard. We’ll have a look in the alley.”
Fink led the way and unlocked the doors.
“All of you except Chick remain in the basement,” Nick directed, when
the others followed him down the stairs. “If there are any footprints to
be found outside, or evidence of any kind, I don’t want them
obliterated. They may prove to be of value.”
“Ah!” Doctor Nolan exclaimed. “I take it, Mr. Carter, that you are
coming to my way of thinking.”
“There is evidence in support of your belief,” Nick frankly admitted,
disregarding the tinge of sarcasm with which the physician had spoken.
“I thought you would find it.”
“I may find something more, perhaps, before I end my work in this case.”
Nick’s voice took on a more subtle ring when he replied, stepping out
into the yard with his chief assistant.
There in the damp earth they found numerous hardly discernible
footprints, most of them near the two holes Nick had observed from the
window, or leading toward a gate opening into the alley. All of them
were so intermingled and partly effaced, however, that they were of
little value. After carefully inspecting them, nevertheless, Nick said
quietly:
“Three men have been here. I think that was the number, judging from
these faint imprints. One of them held a short ladder while the others
entered that window. They brought out the body, whether dead or alive,
and got away with it.”
“You still suspect trickery on Margate’s part?” questioned Chick.
“I do,” said Nick. “I believe there is something more than a coincidence
in the theft of this man’s body so soon after his supposed suicide. We
must go deeper, however, before I can form a more definite opinion.
Let’s have a look in the alley.”
Nick found the gate unbolted and called Chick’s attention to it.
“They did not delay to fasten it,” he remarked. “Ah, here is something
of more significance! The body was taken away in a box.”
“By Jove, that’s as true as death and taxes,” Chick agreed, after
following Nick through the gate. “It also indicates, at least, that the
persons who stole the body supposed Margate to be dead.”
“It does appear so.”
The earth in the alley was more damp than in the yard, and was of a
grayish clay that readily retained an imprint.
That which at once had caught Nick’s eye was that of a long box, such as
caskets are inclosed in for burial. It had been placed on the ground,
into which it had sunk just enough to leave a perfectly definite
impression of its outlines, presumably when a heavy body was placed in
it.
Through the alley leading to the side street, moreover, were numerous
footprints; but these were so intermingled and partly obliterated, like
those in the yard, as to be of no great value.
Crouching upon the ground, however, Nick made a discovery that would
have escaped the observation of most men. It was hardly perceptible, but
the keen eyes of the famous detective seldom missed anything out of the
ordinary.
“By Jove, here’s a remarkable clew,” said he, suddenly looking up. “I
remember none like it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look closer.”
Nick pointed to the rectangular surface contained within the plainly
discernible outlines of the box.
“By gracious! there are some more faint marks on the damp clay,” said
Chick, bending nearer.
“Exactly,” Nick nodded.
“What do you make of them?”
“That side of the box that came next to the ground was marked with the
ordinary ink and brush such as shippers use. There probably was an
address marked on the box.”
“And transferred to the clay?”
“Precisely. The damp clay moistened the ink and has retained parts of
some of the more heavily marked letters, chiefly the capital letters.”
“I see.”
“They are faint and much blurred, however, as well as reversed in
position; but--yes, I am right. Here are two at the end of an address
marked on the box.”
“They look like two small letters, a ‘g’ and an ‘e,’” said Chick,
twisting so as to view them better.
“That’s correct,” said Nick, using his lens. “They are the final letters
of the word college. Here is the loop of one ‘l’, also the larger curve
of the capital ‘C.’”
“By Jove, that’s very significant,” said Chick. “This may have been the
crime of medical students who wanted a body for dissection.”
“I begin to think so.”
“Can you determine any of the other letters?”
“Only three capitals,” said Nick, still scrutinizing the blurred marks
with his lens. “There appears to be two quite long words preceding the
word ‘college’.”
“That immediately preceding it begins with ‘M.’ It may be medical.”
Chick quickly suggested.
“I am quite sure of that.”
“What are the others?”
“There seems to be two words preceding that, or one very long one,” said
Nick. “They are so blurred that I cannot read them. The first capital in
the address, however, is a ‘D.’”
“It evidently is the name of a medical college.”
“I think so.”
“The location is not legible?”
“No. Only a capital ‘S,’ evidently that of the word ‘street.’ No
numerals are discernible.”
“The box must originally have contained something that was shipped to a
local medical college,” said Chick. “With the initial to aid us, and the
fact that it is in one of the city streets, not an avenue, the directory
should enable us to identify it.”
“We will see after going a step farther,” replied Nick, rising and
replacing his lens in his pocket. “I wish to inspect this side street.”
He led the way while speaking, and paused on the curbing of the
sidewalk. The street was a narrow, unpaved one, flanked on both sides
with inferior stores with dwelling apartments above, a street that was
only dimly lighted after the early hours of the evening.
The ground was somewhat muddy from recent rain, and near the curbing
were plainly discernible the tracks of a wagon and the footprints of the
horses attached to it.
“A team stopped here last night,” said Nick, pointing. “There was a
fourth man in the gang.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because here are four tracks of tires close to the curbing. There would
be only two, those of the front and rear wheels, if there had been only
one stop made.”
“That’s true.”
“I am sure there were three men who took the body from the back room,”
Nick added. “No less could have accomplished it without being heard.
They would not have dared to leave their team standing here all the
while. The fourth man drove away and returned to get his confederates
and their burden. That’s why we find four tracks here, instead of only
two.”
“Surely,” Chick agreed. “There’s no getting around it.”
“The wagon had rubber tires, moreover, and--yes, by Jove, one of them
was patched, or mended. Here are the marks left in two places by a seam,
or where some new rubber was vulcanized to the old. This will help some,
I think.”
“We can bank on that, Nick, all right.”
“Say nothing about this to others,” Nick directed. “We will follow up
these clews and see to what they lead, Chick, before making any
disclosures.”
“That’s good judgment.”
“Come. We’ll return to the shop.”
As they retraced their steps through the alley, Nick obliterated the
evidence found there, treading out the imprint of the box with his
boots.
“Well, what have you learned?” Chief Hadley asked, when the two
detectives entered and rejoined the group in the basement. “You have
been gone long enough to have discovered something.”
“Enough to further confirm Doctor Nolan’s opinion,” Nick replied, a bit
dryly. “The body was taken away by four men who came in a wagon.”
“Ah!” Doctor Nolan exclaimed. “I was reasonably sure of it.”
“There is no other evidence worthy of mention,” Nick added. “It may be
well, chief, to have an officer inquire at the dwellings in the side
street. The crooks possibly were heard, or even seen, without the truth
being suspected.”
“I will attend to it,” Hadley nodded, while they returned to the office
of the undertaker.
“There is nothing more to be learned here,” said Nick. “I will look
deeper into the case, however, and will report to you later.”
“Do so, Nick, by all means.”
“Regarding that vial, Doctor Nolan. I want you to let Chick take it for
a few hours,” Nick added, turning to the physician. “I want an analysis
of its contents, or the nature of it to be positively determined. I will
be responsible for its safe return.”
“That’s good enough for me, Carter,” Doctor Nolan readily assented.
“Chick will call at your office for it later in the day.”
“Very well.”
Nick did not defer his departure to further discuss the matter. He left
Chief Hadley and the coroner to proceed as they saw fit, and Herman Fink
in quite abject consternation over the gruesome calamity that had
befallen him.
“We now will hunt up a directory,” Nick remarked, walking up the street
with Chick and Patsy. “I decided not to consult the one in Fink’s
office.”
“It would have led Hadley to suspect that we are wise to something,”
smiled Chick.
“Surely.”
“What have you picked up?” questioned Patsy, surprised.
Chick informed him, ending just as they arrived at a corner drug store,
into which Nick led the way.
A city directory supplied him with the information he was seeking.
“Here we have it,” said he, while Chick and Patsy eagerly read the
address to which he pointed. “The Dabney Private Medical College.”
“By Jove, there is no question about it,” Chick declared.
“Private--that was the word that bothered me,” Nick added. “The first
two words looked like a single exceedingly long one. This certainly does
settle it. Come on. We’ll not wait for breakfast. We’ll find out what’s
doing in this Dabney Private Medical College. There shall be nothing too
private for us to butt into, Chick, take my word for that.”