Nick felt an immediate increase of interest.

He decided that Miss Violet Page was the very person he wanted to interview, and while he did not then exhibit any knowledge of the case, he proceeded to question her with his own ends in view, at the same time ringing a signal for Chick to join him, which the latter presently did.

“Where do 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 horror.  “I certainly know of no such person.”