o you live, Miss Page?" inquired Nick.

"I board in Forty-second Street, sir. I have no living relatives, and
for about two years have employed a maid, or, I might better call her, a
companion."

"The girl mentioned?"

"Yes, sir. Her parents also are dead. The fact that we both are orphans
created a bond of sympathy between us."

"Are you a person of much means, Miss Page?"

"Oh, no, sir. I earn my living on the stage. I was a member of the big
vaudeville troupe, which lately disbanded for the season. My stage name
is Violet Marduke."

"Ah! now I remember," remarked Nick. "I thought I had seen you before. I
happened to hear you sing one evening about two weeks ago."

"I recognized her when I entered," observed Chick, who had taken a
chair near by.

Nick came back to business.

"Why are you so confident, Miss Page, that Boyden cannot have killed
Mary Barton?" he demanded.

"Because, sir, Harry Boyden is a gentle, brave and honest man, and
utterly incapable of committing such a crime," cried Violet, with much
feeling. "Besides, sir, he can have had no possible reason for wishing
her dead."

"Are you sure of that?"

"Absolutely!"

"What are your relations with Boyden?"

"We are lovers, sir," admitted Violet, with a tinge of red dispelling
the paleness of her pretty cheeks. "We expect to be married the coming
summer."

"Ah! I see," murmured Nick, thoughtfully. "How long have you been
acquainted with Boyden?"

"For ten years, sir."

"Then you have been able to form quite a reliable opinion of his
character."

"Indeed, sir, I have!" cried Violet, warmly. "Detective Carter, I know
that Harry Boyden is far above any dishonorable action. I would trust
him with my life."

Of the honesty of the girl herself Nick had not a doubt. It showed in
her eyes, sounded in her voice, and was pictured in her ever changing
expression. Nick was inclined to feel that her opinion of Boyden was
worthy of very serious consideration, despite that circumstances seemed
to implicate the young man in no less than two crimes.

"Is the fact that you are engaged to Boyden generally known, Miss
Page?" Nick next asked.

"It is not, sir. We have said nothing about it."

"Ah, that opens the way for conjectures," cried Nick. "Is there any
person who knows of the engagement, or who suspects it, that would
jealously aim to injure Boyden by implicating him in a crime?"

"Oh, I cannot think so, sir!" said Violet, with a look of horr