Читать книгу Hidden Foes; Or, A Fatal Miscalculation онлайн

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“Did you speak to him?”

“Not by a long chalk. I speak to Todd only under protest and when it cannot be avoided. That’s all I can tell you. You may find him there, perhaps.”

Nick Carter had accomplished his object. He was a keen physiognomist and could read faces and characters much less frank and outspoken than those of this lawyer. He now was absolutely sure, in fact, that Paulding knew nothing about Todd’s death, nor had even heard of it. He smiled and replied:

“Much obliged. Sorry to have troubled you.”

“No trouble at all, sir.”

“May I ask, Mr. Paulding, what took you to the Waldmere Chambers?”

“I went there to confer with a client who——” Paulding broke off abruptly, gazing more sharply at the detective, then frowningly added: “But why do you ask why I went there? What is it to you? It strikes me that you are deucedly inquisitive.”

“I agree with you,” said Nick, coolly placing a chair near that of the lawyer and sitting down. “There is serious occasion for it, Mr. Paulding, as I now will explain: I happen to know that Mr. Gaston Todd has not left that second-floor corridor in the Waldmere Chambers. He was found dead there immediately after you left the building.”