The Doctor's Stratagem.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 171, 19 July 1907, Page 6

The Doctor's Stratagem.

By NICHOLAS CARTER

Au&or.jof "the Silent Partner" " Under Cmiercf the Lav," " Sealed-Qrden, n

" Cmmfhtin a Web," " The Price of a Seerei," etc

CHAPTER XD. . ON A NEW TACK. "Don't move, Detective Carter I If you were to attempt violence, or even to leave this house, it might cost yoa your life. You see, sir, how easy it would be for you to arrest mc, if against my wishes." The voice of the physician, then -tinged with subtle irony, had resumed its earlier composure. With is hand clutching the drawn portieres, he stood gazing at the motionless detective, who remained indifferently in his chair, glancing -now at Lecraw,' now at the three rigid figures just over the threshold of the Tear parlour, und at the black barrels of the weapons with- which he was covered. " You do appear, in fact, to have mc at a disadvantage. Doctor Lecraw," Nick coolly said, after a moment. " That is a frank admission." "Something I have not heard from you to-night." "The night is not yet past." '* It is some satisfaction, however, to finally see you fly your true colours," Nick sternly added. " I have driven you to that, at least." . Dr. Lecraw drew up his slender figure with a curious mingling of dignity and scorn. "If the day ever comes when I may show you my true colours, Detective Carter, you will recall that taunt," he slowly said. "Is that so?" rejoined Nick, with, an incredulous smile. " Yes, it is. so." " I am glad to hear it, even though I doubt it." "Then you doubt it?" "I certainly do." " You probably infer, too, that I adopted this display of violence only to gain time in which to frame up plausible lies with which to answer your last questions, or to avoid the arrest with which you threatened mc," said Doctor Lecraw. '-'Quite likely," nodded Nick. "You are wrong in that, as I shall now show you; as wrong, Detective Carter, as in the other conjecture horn ..of your suspicions. I have done this only to show you that I could easily evade arrest, if it were my wish to do so. You may go about your business, my men. I shall not require you here again, this evening."

With the last remark Dr. Lecraw waved the servants away, and threw the portieres to their former position. Then, standing with folded arms, with a gentler voice and softer light in his expressive eyes, he deliberately said:

" I have a few words to add to what I already have said, Detective Carter, and you must hear mc patiently." "Not being pressed for time, I shall do so,". Nick drily replied.

'Til the investigation, in which you j are now engaged, you doubtless feel that you are doing your duty," Lecraw gravely continued. " I give you credit for that, Detective Carter; though I lament the errors of which you are the victim, and whicih have led you to grievously misjudge mc. There sometimes "

"If that is so," interrupted Nick, why don't you state the real facts and set mc right? "

Dr. Lecraw ignored the interruption. '" There are sometimes duties to which one is bound, by ties far more laudable than, those 'constraining you to this work, Detective Carter; ties born of a loyalty that stands ready to sacrifice fortune, honour, or even life itself. You have made several statements and asked mc several questions, Detective Carter, to which I shall make no reply. You entertain convictions concerning mc, of which I shall not attempt to disabuse you. This is all I have to say, Detective Carter, and if you now feel that justice requires my arrest, I am here and subject to your command."

Nick heard him in silence, and for several moments sat silently regarding him. He had already decided not to ».- rest him. He fully realised that, despite the circumstantial evidence, he could not absolutely prove that Lecraw had removed the missing bocry and substituted sandbags for it, or afterward emptied and disposed of them at the scene of the railway disaster.

In the last remarks of the physician, moreover, in the grave pathos with which they were uttered, and in the quietude he now had assumed, there was that which quickly impressed Nick that he was on the wrong track, and that he must look deeper for a solution of the mystery shrouding the entire case.

"Do you really mean, doctor, that you will not explain your conduct?"

"I have no explanation to offer."

"Nor attempt to dispel my suspicions?"

"As a matter of fact, Detective Carter, I care nothing about your suspicions." ."'lf taken into court, Doctor Lecraw, you will be forced to speak." "I do not think so. One may lead a horse to water, Detective Carter, bui ne cannot be forced to drink." "If you are as innocent as you assert, Doctor Lecraw, why will you not confide in mc?" "Impossible." "Is this attitude on your part final?" "Absolutely." "Yet if you would frankly confess " "Pardon mc. Lhave nothing to confess." "I would gladly be your friend, doctor, if you " "L do not ask for your friendship, nor do I fear your enmity." Lecraw again interrupted, with an impatient gesture. "1 shall say.no more upon this subject. Detective Carter, and you may take what, action you please. If you wish to arrest mc, I am prepared to submit. If you do not, sir, I beg to bid you good evening." It was equivalent to an ejection from the house, and Nick at once arose, with brows knitting closer. Standing directly in front of the physician, he sternly said:

"I shall not arrest you at present, Doctor Lecraw. I shall continue to investigate this case, however, and I shall sift it to. the very bottom: If you are as innocent as you assert, I hope I may be the one to prove it. I£, on the other hand, you are guilty —mark these words: As surely as you hear them, sir, I will weave about you a net from which there can be no escape, and will bring you to the bar of justice to answer for your guilt!" "Once more. Detective Carter, I beg to bid you good evening," said Lecraw, pale and frowning. Nick Carter turned upon his heel, and strode from the room and out of the house.

The result.of the interview was not quite what Nick had anticipated. la a

measure the step he had taken was of the nature of a bluff, under which he had believed that Lecraw would weaken. In this design Nick had failed, yet the interview was not without valuable results. With keen insight Nick now saw that "he might be on the wrong track, that the mystery might be deeper than he had conjectured. It was with a new and surdenly formed design, therefore, that ne refrained from further pressing Lecraw, and so abruptly left Rangeley. "I'll try the same bluff ip another quarter, upon Doctor Ferdinand Dubois," he said to himself, upon reaching the street.

"I'll make the attempt, too, before this defiant Lecraw can communicate with the other and give him any instructions. It was Doctor Dubois who attended Etta Sheldon in her illness and signed her death-certificate. H he is Decraw's. confederate in this business, or has winked at any knavery, he may not be able to meet a bluff of the same sort without betraying himself. Luckily, I know where he lives, and the hour is not late."

It was close upon nine o'clock, however, and Nick walked more rapidly, heading for the nearest line of cars. trpon turning the first corner, he came face to face with- Harvey Dane. "Good heavens!" Dane exclaimed. "You out here, Nick?" "Bather", said Nick bluntly. "Where are you going?" "To Eangeley." "For what?" "Only to see Dr. Lecraw.' "You'd better not go." "Why not?" "Because I just left Lecraw a good, bit disturbed, I reckon," Nick dryly rejoined. "Come with mc, instead. I'll explain on the way." "Where are you going?" "To take the measure of Doctor Ferdinand Dubois." ''You amaze mc!" cried Dane, with a sharper look at Nick's determined countenance. 'You surely do not suspect him of any wrong.?" "Come along -with mc, Harvey, and I will tell you what I have learned, and what I have done," said Nick. "I shall have just about time before we reach Doctor Dubois' house." Dane readily complied, and Nick told him in detail what he and Chick had accomplished, as well as the occasion of his visit to Eangeley that evening, and the result of his interview with Doctor Lecraw. It is putting it mildly to say that Harvey Dane was surprised, by Nick's disclosures, and by the suspicions with which the detective now regarded Doctor Lecraw. "It seems impossible, utterly impos- , sible," he gravely protested, after hear- : ing Nick's story. "Nothing is impossible in the world of : crime," growled Nick. "You'd know it, ' too, if you had seen as much of it as I have."

"Doctor Lecraw guilty of knavery."

"Heavens!-I can hardly believe it!" Dane went on. "I would have staked nry life upon his nobility of character."

"H'm! It's odds you'd have lost." "Yet he appears so very "

"Bah! Appearances are deceitful. Never bank upon them, Harvey. The pweetest girl I ever saw, superficially regarded, was given a life-sentence for poison.«ig her lover and a rival."

"So Lecraw defied you, did he " "It amounted to that."

'•'Why do you distrust Doctor Dubois?" "I know that he prescribed for Etta Sheldon, and vouched that her death was from natural causes."

"That is true." "Than, if Lecraw is guilty of any rascality, Dubois should have detected it. Very possibly he did, and has winked at it, or been bribed by Lecraw with some of Etta Sheldon's money." "Heavens! I cannot believe it." "There's another point, too," added Nick. "What is that?" "I'm convinced that Etta Sheldon's corpse was held at Rangeley, instead of being shipped to Boston, and I'm equally sure it is not there at present," continued Nick. "Providing that Doctor Dubois is a confederate of lecraw, it is barely possible that the body was removed to the former's house, and is now in his keeping, or has been disposed of by him. I know that Lecraw visited him very soon after his return from the railway accident." "How did you learn that?" "Patsey, one of my assistants, was watching him." "What will you say to Dubois." "You let mc alone to know what to say to him," Nick rejoined. "I will confront hi mwith a stronger bluff than I gave Lecraw. I will wager that I can tell, whether he is aware of anything crooked" at Rangelsy." "Do you wish mc to enter the house with you " "Certainly. You need say nothing, however. Dubois may assume that you also are a detective. Has he ever met you?" "No." "It's all right, then," said Nick. "Keep quiet, now, while we are approaching the house." They were already in sight of the physician's dwelling. It was an attractive wooden house of recent construction, and in a locality still only partly settled. It stood back from the street some little distance, with several trees around it, and a vacant lot at each side. Only one room and the hall appeared to be lighted, and Nick could see that one •of the windows of the room, which was on the ground floor, was partly open tor ventilation. Bent upon seeing who was in the room, Nick walked toward tbe side of the house, only to suddenly halt and grip Dane by the arm, and whisper quickly: Easy! Stop a moment!" "What is it?" muttered Dane, with a chill running through him. "I thought I saw the figure of a man dart back of the house, just as 1 reacted this corner.-1 heard nothing, though, and I may have been mistaken."

"There would be no use in seeking him out there. It's as dark as a tunnel under the?e trees.''

"I'm not going to seek him," Nick growled, under his breath. "There may have been no one there, or only— Oh. by Jove! can it be that those Italians have shifted their espionage to this place. That would be decidedly significant. It would indicate that they have in some way located the body before us. Come with mc, Harvey. I must interview Doctor Dubois without delay." So: significant, i nfact, was this possibility, shr&wdly hit upon by jfiefc; that he

now: hastened to the -front door of the house and rang ithe_ hell, ping for a time the man thought to have been seen outside.

v (To be continnea Bally.)