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Supportive Accountability
How to Inspire People and Improve
Performance

Sylvia Melena

Melena Consulting Group

La Mesa, CA
Copyright © 2018 by Sylvia Melena
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in
part in any form.
Published by Melena Consulting Group.

3755 Avocado Blvd. #291

La Mesa, CA 91941
smelena@melenaconsulting.com
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018903952
ISBN: 978-0-9997435-1-5
Disclaimer: The author and publisher make no warranties regarding
the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this
book and assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. The
purchase of this book does not establish a consulting relationship with
the purchaser or reader. There is no guarantee regarding results. This
book is not a substitute for the advice of your organization’s human
resources professionals, legal counsel, or other designated experts.
Every situation is different. To mitigate risk to yourself and your
organization, seek advice from your organization’s designated experts.
The author and publisher assume no liability for damages that may
result from the use of the information contained within. The
characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this book are
fictitious. Any resemblance to real people, events, organizations, or
programs is merely coincidental and unintentional.
The Melena Consulting Group logo is a registered trademark of
Melena Consulting Group. “Supportive Accountability Leadership,”
the “Four Leadership Styles of Supportive Accountability,” and the “4
P’s of Accountability” are trademarks of Melena Consulting Group.
To my husband, daughter, son, and grandson, who love me
unconditionally.
 First, Some Context
In my 20-year leadership career, I have seen managers and
supervisors struggle in holding their employees accountable. This has
been true for many people in supervisory roles and with various levels
of authority and experience, from newly minted, first-time supervisors
to seasoned managers responsible for entire workforces. What has
stood out to me is the lack of balance in their performance
management approach. Managers and supervisors who have struggled
to hold their employees accountable and improve performance the
right way have either been too harsh, too lenient, or too disengaged.
These approaches have been detrimental.
In this book, I unveil Supportive Accountability Leadership™, a
simple yet powerful framework that will help you create a positive
work environment while improving performance. I developed this
model based on two decades of my personal experience. According to
peer-reviewed international research in various disciplines, leaders
can successfully apply the seven elements of the model to improve
performance for individuals, teams, and entire workforces.
To provide you with examples of how to apply the performance
management principles in this book, I tell the story of Vic, Alex, and
Mary of YouthZone, a nonprofit organization, as well as other stories.
These stories were inspired by real-life experiences in my leadership
career; however, all the characters, organizations, and events are
fictitious. Any resemblance to real people, events, organizations, or
programs is merely coincidental and unintentional.
The story of Vic and Mary provides examples of data, reports, forms,
and other tools. These are for illustration purposes only. You have
permission to use any of the sample templates and customize them to
meet your needs.
While this book provides a solid foundation and starting point for
effective employee performance management, results can’t be
guaranteed, and success depends on the specifics of your unique
situation. As you apply the concepts and tools in this book, seek the
guidance of your organization’s designated performance management
and legal experts. They can help you minimize risk to you and your
organization.
Although I am a management consultant, the purchase of this book
doesn’t establish a consulting relationship between us. If you’re
interested in learning more about my company’s consulting and
training services, please email me at smelena@melenaconsulting.com
or visit my website at www.LeadershipStrength.com.
Thank you, and enjoy the book!
Sylvia Melena
 Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
The Heart of Supportive Accountability
Chapter 2
The Art of Supportive Leadership
Chapter 3
Expectations that Inspire
Chapter 4
Monitoring: Focusing on What Matters
Chapter 5
Measuring Customer Service
Chapter 6
Best Practices in Performance Feedback
Chapter 7
Leading Performance Improvement Conversations
Chapter 8
Critical Support Factors that Unleash Performance
Chapter 9
The Power of Employee Recognition
Chapter 10
The 4 P’s of Accountability™
Chapter 11
Boosting Performance through Progressive Discipline
Chapter 12
The Case for Documentation
Chapter 13
Final Wrap Up: Practical Application
A Friendly Request
Free Copy of the Performance Documentation Toolkit
About the Author
Other Resources
Appendices
 Introduction
You landed a job supervising employees. When you took the job, you
were full of passion and energy and ready to take on the world. Then
the inevitable happened. You’re faced with an employee who has
significant performance issues that seem insurmountable. You
completed extensive supervisor training and collected a wealth of
information about employee performance management, but it hasn’t
worked. You’re frustrated, overwhelmed, and drained.
You’re not alone. I have seen hundreds of leaders go through the
angst of trying to work with struggling employees. In the last 14 years,
I have taught and coached managers and supervisors to help
underperforming employees and document quickly and efficiently.
The goal has always been success, not to “get rid” of people.
My name is Sylvia Melena, and I am the Founder and CEO of
Melena Consulting Group, a leadership and management consulting
and training company based in San Diego County, California. I have a
Master’s in Leadership and Organizational Studies and experience in
middle, senior, and executive management. Most importantly, I have a
passion for leadership and a profound love for people. It’s out of this
background that I developed the Supportive Accountability
Leadership™ Model, which provides leaders with a balanced approach
to performance management.

The Supportive Accountability

Leadership™ Model
Supportive Accountability Leadership™ is a simple yet powerful
framework that will help you engage employees and improve
performance. At the core of the model is supportive accountability, a
blend of supportive supervision and strong accountability that sparks
employee performance.
With supportive accountability, you can achieve one of three
outcomes:
Outcome #1 - You can help the employee turn around substandard
performance and achieve success. This is the ultimate goal of
Supportive Accountability Leadership and the most rewarding of the
three outcomes.
Outcome #2 - The employee discovers that the job isn’t a good fit
and embraces a new role where he or she can succeed. This is a “win-
win-win” for you, the employee, and your organization.
Outcome #3 - The employee continues to underperform and is
removed from the position. This isn’t the goal, but it’s sometimes
necessary so that you, your team, and your organization can achieve
success. And success is about the people you were hired to serve—
employees, customers, and the leadership of your organization.
If you’re uncomfortable with outcome number three, you’re not
alone. Many supervisors struggle with disciplinary action. Let’s face it.
Discipline isn’t the fun part of our jobs as leaders. However, when you
chose to become a leader, it became an essential part of your role. It’s a
necessary element of effective performance management.

The Four Leadership Styles of Supportive

Accountability™
Supportive Accountability Leadership frames performance
management using four basic leadership styles. These styles are
determined by how much leaders strike a delicate balance between
supportiveness and accountability. In this book, I will provide a brief
overview of these four leadership styles—supportive unaccountability,
unsupportive accountability, total avoidance, and supportive
accountability. However, our focus throughout the book will be solely
on supportive accountability and how you can use this balanced
leadership approach to engage employees and promote strong
performance.
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Seven Elements of Effective Performance
Management
The Supportive Accountability Leadership Model will also help you
navigate the employee performance management process using the
seven elements of effective performance management: expectations,
monitoring, feedback, support, recognition, accountability, and
documentation. I will show you how to use these elements to ignite
performance for all employees, not just for those who are struggling.
Effective performance management is for all employees and keeps
your organization at the top of its game.

Progressive Discipline Basics

To help you with employees who continue to struggle, even with a
significant investment of your time, energy, and support, I will cover
the basics of progressive discipline.
If you’re looking for a cookie-cutter approach to progressive
discipline, there is none. Effective progressive discipline requires skill,
sound judgment, and the support of your direct manager and human
resources experts. I will show you how to do that. I will provide you an
overview of progressive discipline, the levels involved, and how the
process works. Each organization has its specific policies, procedures,
and philosophy regarding progressive discipline. It’s vital that you
consult with key people to ensure you’re in alignment with your
organization’s protocols.

Documentation Made Easier

And then there’s that dreaded documentation. It’s draining and
time-consuming, but necessary. I will show you how to lighten the
burden of documenting performance. This book provides
documentation examples, tips, and templates that you can use as is or
customize to meet your needs. It also includes a free download of the
Performance Documentation Toolkit. To bring it all together, I have
also dedicated an entire chapter to best practices in documentation.
However, these resources will never trump the guidance you must seek
from your organization’s designated experts.

A Strong Supervisor-Employee
Relationship
In the bigger scheme of things, none of this matters if you don’t
focus your energies on the most crucial factor for unleashing
performance excellence: a strong supervisor-employee relationship. A
solid and healthy supervisor-employee relationship is the foundation
of the Supportive Accountability Leadership Model. All the rest will be
to no avail if you don’t get this right. As the immediate supervisor, you
alone can break or make the workplace in the eyes of employees. So
this entire book, from the first chapter to the last, focuses on how you
can be a great supervisor. I will unveil the art of supportive leadership
to help you unleash the potential of the people you lead.
 Supportive Accountability Leadership isn’t just for turning around
substandard performance. It’s the bedrock of performance excellence.
It can also help employees who are doing well to take their
performance to higher levels. So whether you want to jump-start
performance for your new employees, transform good performance
into performance excellence, or turn around lackluster performance,
Supportive Accountability Leadership will provide you a firm
foundation for immediate and long-lasting success.
 Chapter 1
The Heart of Supportive Accountability
“We just have to create a work environment where whatever is
going on with our team, we let them know that there is somebody
there.”
– Scott H. Silverman, CEO of Confidential Recovery

In my 20-year leadership career, I have seen managers and

supervisors struggle in holding their employees accountable. This has
been true for numerous people in supervisory roles and with various
levels of authority and experience, from newly minted, first-time
supervisors to seasoned managers responsible for entire workforces.
What has stood out to me is the lack of balance in their performance
management process. Managers and supervisors who have struggled
to hold their employees accountable and improve performance the
right way have either been too harsh, too lenient, or too disengaged.
These three extreme and unbalanced approaches are ineffective and
negatively impact the workplace. The key to effective performance
management is to strike a delicate balance between two different yet
complementary performance management elements—supportiveness
and accountability. This balance is the core principle that makes the
Supportive Accountability Leadership Model so effective.

The Four Leadership Styles of Supportive

Accountability™
The Supportive Accountability Leadership Model frames
performance management using four basic leadership styles
determined by how much leaders strike a delicate balance between
support and accountability. These four styles are depicted below based
on high and low levels of supportiveness and accountability.
 Leaders can operate anywhere in the continuum between high and
low for both supportiveness and accountability, and the amount of
support and accountability required will vary from situation to
situation.

1. Unsupportive Accountability is characterized by high levels

of accountability and low levels of supportiveness. Leaders with
this style demand high performance but don’t provide the
necessary tools, equipment, and emotional support employees
need to achieve it. This type of accountability can create a harsh,
intimidating, and uncaring environment for employees. Leaders
 who use an unsupportive accountability style pile on the work
with minimal support and create a demanding work
environment. They’re often successful in pressuring employees
to deliver high performance, but at extraordinary costs to
employees and the organization.
2. Supportive Unaccountability is demonstrated by high levels
of supportiveness and low levels of accountability. Leaders who
operate with a high degree of supportive unaccountability tend to
worry too much about being liked and making employees happy.
They have difficulty holding themselves and their employees
accountable for meeting organizational goals and priorities. They
create a fun environment but struggle to help employees meet
expectations. Supportive unaccountability can create a “feel-
good” atmosphere on the surface, but it doesn’t promote
employee engagement and workplace fairness. While some
employees are self-motivated and will achieve excellence with or
without adequate accountability, there are others who need the
oversight to meet performance standards. When a leader fails to
promote accountability, it results in an environment where not
everyone carries their weight, which sinks the morale of high-
performing employees.
3. Total Avoidance is the absence of both supportiveness and
accountability. This is a hands-off approach, where leaders
relinquish their responsibility to lead, guide, inspire, and hold
themselves and their employees accountable for meeting goals.
Leaders who display total avoidance don’t address concerns,
which causes them to snowball into bigger issues that require a
higher degree of intervention down the line. Leaders who
approach performance management with total avoidance don’t
actually “manage” performance. Instead of getting ahead of
problems, they operate in a reactive mode and only spring into
action when fires erupt. You can spot these leaders frequently
expending their energies handling unnecessary “emergencies.”
The total avoidance approach creates a chaotic work
environment and causes unnecessary workplace stress for the
leaders and the people they lead. When leaders who operate with
 total avoidance oversee an entire workforce, it creates significant
organizational dysfunction.
4. Supportive Accountability is the most effective performance
management style. It embodies a high level of supportiveness
complemented by a high level of accountability. There’s no magic
formula for how much support and accountability are needed.
Effective leaders provide the right amount of support and
accountability based on each situation. When performance isn’t
quite up to par, they don’t look for a person to blame, but rather
seek to uncover the underlying causes and to provide the support
necessary for success. They ask themselves how they can improve
the way they lead, provide support, and promote accountability.
Leaders who manage with supportive accountability know that
great performance flows out of a strong supervisor-employee
relationship based on mutual trust, caring, and respect.

The Supervisor-Employee Relationship

The supervisor-employee relationship is the foundation of
Supportive Accountability Leadership. If you’re going to inspire
employees to achieve success, you must first and foremost build a
lasting and healthy working relationship with each of them. To
accomplish this, get to know each employee on a professional and
personal level. You don’t need to know their innermost secrets, but
rather to understand and appreciate their needs, priorities, desires,
aspirations, strengths, weaknesses, and fears. The more you know
about each employee, the more you can create a great work
environment where people can thrive.

Seven Elements of Effective Performance

Management
Supportive Accountability Leadership encompasses seven elements
of effective performance management: expectations, monitoring,
feedback, support, recognition, accountability, and documentation.
These elements are not necessarily sequential and are all
interconnected. Effective leaders are agile and use the elements that
each situation requires. In the chapters that follow, we will explore
each of these and how to implement them in the spirit of supportive
accountability.

Supportive Accountability Is a Choice

 The Four Leadership Styles of Supportive Accountability are not
about personality. They’re about the approach. For instance, you may
have a direct, take-charge personality and yet choose to provide
support and accountability with grace, humility, respect, and sincere
regard for the feelings and well-being of others. Likewise, you may be
a soft-spoken, gentle person and still demonstrate a respectful
firmness when holding yourself and employees accountable. Whatever
your personality, you can intentionally choose your leadership style.
This is one of the most important choices you will make as a leader,
and it will have a profound impact on the success and well-being of the
people you lead. It will also influence your ability to recruit and retain
top talent, which will affect your overall performance and that of your
organization.
The intent of the four leadership styles isn’t to label you, but rather
to provide a framework to help you discover your performance
management approach. This discovery is merely a starting point on
your journey towards supportive accountability and performance
management excellence. Supportive Accountability Leadership can be
learned. However, before the learning process can begin, you must
understand where you are today and decide where you want to be
tomorrow.

In Review
The key takeaway is that strong leadership is paramount for creating
an environment that engages employees and promotes strong
performance. Leaders who are proactive and balanced in their
leadership approach engage employees and create a motivating work
environment. Leaders who are too harsh or too lenient or who avoid
their responsibilities altogether create a disengaging work
environment. This leads to less-than-optimum performance. The great
news is that capable leadership is a skill that can be learned and
refined over time. Managers and supervisors can enhance their ability
to develop, support, and hold employees accountable and create a
motivating and high-performing work environment.
Visit https://textbookfull.com
now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
Putting It into Action
1. Review the descriptions of the four leadership styles of
supportive accountability—unsupportive accountability,
supportive unaccountability, total avoidance, and supportive
accountability.
2. Self-reflect. In which style do you most consistently operate? Are
you high or low in accountability? Are you high or low in
supportiveness?
3. Keep this self-reflection in mind as you read more about support
and accountability in the rest of this book and write down ways
you can improve in supportiveness, accountability, or both.
 Chapter 2
The Art of Supportive Leadership
A strong supervisor-employee relationship is the most important
source of support you can provide employees.

Leaders who effectively identify and meet the support needs of

employees are in a much better position to unleash employee potential
and boost workplace performance. In the Supportive Accountability
Leadership Model, support is anything the employee reasonably needs
to achieve strong job performance. An employee won’t be able to
succeed and sustain success over time without adequate support.
 Support fosters a work environment where the employee can thrive.
As a supervisor, you’re the most important source of support for
employees, and this support starts with a strong supervisor-employee
relationship.

The Supervisor-Employee Relationship

 You’re the “face” of the organization. Everything you do and say
represents the organization in the eyes of its employees.[1] How you
interact with people on a daily basis will affect their perception of the
leadership, supportiveness, and fairness of both you and your
organization. This perception of fairness affects how much employees
will trust you and your organization.
You have substantial influence, and this influence impacts the
quality of the workplace and the success of your organization. This
requires that you bring your best to work every day. Research has
consistently shown that the supervisor-employee relationship
influences employee perception of support, engagement, commitment
to the organization, turnover intentions, ethical behavior, and
ultimately performance.[2] You, much more than any other workplace
factor, impact employees’ decision to stay with or leave your
organization. The quality of your relationships with employees affects
their perception of organizational support. And these perceptions
affect retention.[3]

Many Employees Don’t Feel Supported

The sad truth is that many employees don’t feel empowered or
supported in their workplaces. Surveys of employees in the U.S. have
consistently shown that most view their supervisor as the greatest
source of workplace stress.[4] Supervisors are a chief contributor to
employee burnout.[5] This underscores the vital role that you as a
leader play in creating a supportive and empowering work
environment that can retain top talent, keep employees healthy, and
promote the success of your organization. The way you approach
employee performance management can either increase or reduce
stress and burnout for employees.

Vic’s Top Priority

It was a beautiful morning in May. The five supervisors of the
Youth Employment Program’s leadership team cheered as the
manager shared the program’s performance data for April. Among
 the supervisors present in YouthZone’s conference room, Vic was
especially proud. For the second month in a row, his unit of seven
youth employment specialists had earned him recognition as the
top-performing supervisor in the Youth Employment Program.
Being the best in the small nonprofit’s employment program for
low-income youth energized him. It’s what he lived for.
Vic was enjoying the applause when the receptionist interrupted
the meeting.
“Excuse me,” she said. The applause came to a sudden halt, and
all heads turned as she walked over to Vic and handed him a note.
“There’s a teenager in the lobby, and he wants to talk to you. I told
him you’re in a meeting, but he’s insisting on seeing you right
away.”
By now, all eyes were on Vic, and he could feel them.
“Okay,” he said as he took the note. “I’ll be right there.” He could
feel the heat rising in his face. He turned towards his manager and
his peers, who were all still looking at him in awkward silence. “I’m
sorry,” he said, waving the note in his hand. “I have to see this
customer.”
As he sped out of the conference room, thoughts ran through his
head. I can’t believe it. It better not be about Mary again. If I get
one more complaint!
“Excuse me. Are you Mary’s supervisor?” A young man broke into
his thoughts.
“Yes.” Vic composed himself. “My name is Vic. I’m Mary’s
supervisor. How may I help you?”
Indeed, it was another complaint about Mary’s customer service.
This was the third time this month. But in his usual charming
manner, Vic handled it. The young man complained about Mary’s
rudeness. Vic appeased him. And that was that.
Vic had better things to do. After all, great team performance
doesn’t happen by itself. If he was going to be promoted, he needed
to be the best. As long as he could keep the complaints from
reaching his manager, everything was under control.

Three Pillars of a Strong Supervisor-

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NICK CARTER

STORIES NO. 146, JUNE 26, 1915: PAYING THE PRICE; OR, NICK
CARTER'S PERILOUS VENTURE ***
Issued Weekly. Entered as Second-class Matter at the New York Post Office,
by Street & Smith, 79-89 Seventh Ave., New York. Copyright, 1915, by
Street & Smith. O. G. Smith and G. C. Smith, Proprietors.

TERMS TO NICK CARTER STORIES MAIL SUBSCRIBERS.

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Single Copies or Back Numbers, 5c. Each.
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properly credited and should let us know at once.

No. 146. NEW YORK, June 26, 1915. Price Five Cents.
 PAYING THE PRICE;
Or, NICK CARTER’S PERILOUS VENTURE.

Edited by CHICKERING CARTER.

 CHAPTER I.

THE RECTORY MURDER.

Nick Carter paused only a moment before replying. He took that one
moment to consider the other strange matter that had brought him to
Washington, and whether compliance with the request just made by the chief
of police would seriously interfere with it. He decided that it would not, and
he then said quite gravely:
“Why, yes, I will go with Detective Fallon, since you both press me so
earnestly. It is barely possible, chief, as you say, that I may detect something
that would escape his notice. Who is the victim of the crime, if such it
proves to be?”
“There is no question about that, Nick,” said the chief. “The murdered
man is the Reverend Father Cleary, of the St. Lawrence Church. He was
found dead on the floor of his library in the rectory, which adjoins the
church, about half an hour ago.”
“A Roman Catholic priest, eh?”
“Yes.”
“What do you know about it?”
“Very little. I was notified by telephone. I directed that nothing should be
touched, nor anything said about the crime before I began an investigation. I
sent two policemen to take charge in the rectory until I could get word to
Detective Fallon. He is the best man on my force for such a job.”
“But I am not in your class, Nick; far from it,” put in Fallon, who was an
erect, dark man of forty, with a rather grave and resolute type of face. “You
are in a class of your own, Carter, as far as that goes.”
“Cut it!” said the chief tersely. “Chucking violets is a waste of time.
Fallon will tell you all that is known, Nick, while you are on the road. My
car and chauffeur are outside. Take it, Fallon, and let me hear from you. You
have carte blanche, Nick. Dig into the matter in your own peculiar way.”
“I will see what I make of it,” Nick replied, turning to accompany Fallon
from the police headquarters.
 It then was about half past eight on the first day of November, and the
famous New York detective was in Washington on other business, the nature
of which will presently appear. He knew it could wait, however, and he was
not averse to complying with the urgent request of the local police chief,
who, in as serious a case as had been reported to him, was more than eager
to secure the aid and advice of the celebrated detective.
Nick took a seat with Fallon in the tonneau of the touring car, the latter
having hurriedly given the chauffeur his instructions.
“We can run out there in ten minutes, Nick,” he added, when the detective
banged the door and sat down.
“The St. Lawrence Church, eh?” queried Nick, gazing at him. “I don’t
recall having seen it.”
“It is a new one,” said Fallon. “It was built only a year ago. It is pretty
well out and not in a wealthy and fashionable section of the city. Father
Cleary is a comparatively young priest, not over forty, and is known for the
good work he has done in the slums. He will be sadly missed in the low
districts.”
“Were you acquainted with him?” Nick inquired.
“Yes, slightly.”
“How long has he been in Washington?”
“About three years,” said Fallon. “You were here about a month ago, by
the way, on that government case against several foreign spies. I heard of it
after you left. I was sorry not to have seen you.”
“I was here only a couple of days with two of my assistants,” Nick
replied. “We were fortunate in speedily rounding up the miscreants, barring
one.”
“You refer to Andy Margate, I suppose.”
“Yes. The net still is spread for him, however, and the others now are
doing time. Margate was not one of the spies. With the help of two local
crooks, he turned a trick on the foreigners that proved to be much to my
advantage.”
“You refer to Larry Trent and Tom Carney?”
“Yes.”
“Both are bad eggs,” said Fallon. “I have known them from ’way back.
Trent is the worse of the two, for he is better educated and came from decent
people.”
“So I have heard.”
“He has a sister, Lottie Trent, who is an honest and industrious girl. She’s
employed as a stenographer in an office in the war department. I knew her
parents, also, who have been dead for several years. By the way, Nick, there
was mighty little published about the true inwardness of that foreign-spy
case. They went up without a legal fight, even.”
“There was no fight coming to them,” said Nick dryly. “They had no
defense. I clinched the case against them, including Captain Casper Dillon.”
“But the bottom facts were nearly all suppressed.”
“Yes, all of the bottom facts,” Nick allowed, smiling significantly.
“It is hinted, nevertheless, that Senator Barclay and a young government
engineer in the war department, one Harold Garland, were somewhat
involved in the matter,” said Fallon. “Is that true?”
“Really, Fallon, I cannot say,” said Nick, still smiling.
Detective Fallon laughed lightly, knowing well enough that Nick could
have informed him concerning every part of the case, if so inclined. He took
no exceptions to his reticence, however, and inquired, after a moment:
“Is there any clew to Margate’s whereabouts?”
“Not that I know of,” Nick admitted. “The police throughout the country
are on the watch for him. He is a very keen, crafty, and elusive fellow,
however, and is better known in Europe, where he has done most of his
knavish work. But we shall get him, Fallon, sooner or later. If——”
“Here we are,” Fallon interrupted. “There is the church.”
The touring car had turned a corner, bringing the sacred edifice into view.
It occupied the corner beyond and stood somewhat back from the street, both
front and side. In the rear, fronting on the side street, was the dwelling
occupied by Father Cleary, whose only servant was an elderly housekeeper,
one Honora Kane, who had been a widow many years.
The church, the rectory, and the surrounding grounds extended back to
the next street, from which they were divided by a stone wall, the rear
grounds being adorned with several old shade trees, the wide-spreading
branches of which mingled with those in the side grounds of the adjoining
estate.
 Nick took in all these features of the scene while approaching the rectory,
on the sidewalk in front of which a policeman was pacing to and fro. He
touched his helmet when Fallon sprang from the car, but evidently he did not
know the face of the more famous detective.
“What has been done, Bagley?” asked Fallon, pausing briefly.
“Nothing, sir, except to keep it quiet,” said the policeman. “We have been
waiting for you. Grady is inside.”
“We’ll go in,” said Fallon.
“One moment,” Nick interposed, detaining him. “The murder has not
leaked out, Bagley, I take it?”
“No, sir.”
“I see that there are no inquisitive people hanging around here. Have you
seen any one, by the way, who appeared to have an interest in the place?”
“No, sir; I have not.”
“That’s all, Bagley; thank you.”
“I see the point, Nick,” Fallon remarked, as they entered the grounds
fronting the rectory.
“Holy smoke!” Bagley muttered, starting after them. “That must be Nick
Carter. Great guns! there’ll be nothing to the case, if he is on it.”
The two detectives were admitted to the hall by a pale young woman in a
calico wrapper and a long gingham apron. Her tear-filled eyes, together with
the low moans and sobs of a corpulent woman in an adjoining room, evinced
the grief and distress of both.
“Let me take the ribbons, Fallon,” Nick said quietly. “We may go over the
traces if we drive too fast.”
Fallon readily acquiesced, and Nick paused and questioned the woman
who had admitted them.
He learned that her name was Margaret Dawson; that she was the nearest
neighbor to the rectory, and that she had hurried to assist Mrs. Kane, the
housekeeper, upon learning her cries when she discovered the terrible crime.
“Nora was nearly out of her bed, sir, and didn’t know what to do,” she
explained. “So I telephoned to the police station, sir, and was told to let
things alone till the officers came. That was not long, sir, and nothing has
been touched, not even Father Cleary’s body. An officer is in the library, sir,
where it’s lying.”
 “Mrs. Kane is the only servant?” questioned Nick, glancing at the
sobbing woman in the adjoining room.
“Yes, sir. She is quite deaf, sir, and heard no disturbance during the night.
She went to bed before nine o’clock last evening, leaving Father Cleary
alone in the library.”
“She has told you this?”
“Yes, sir. The library door was closed when she came down this morning
to get breakfast, but she did not think of anything wrong on that account.
When the meal was nearly ready, however, she went up to call Father Cleary
and found his room had not been used. Then she came down to the library,
sir, and discovered what had been done.”
Seeing the housekeeper gazing anxiously at him, Nick entered the room
and briefly questioned her. She could tell him only that Father Cleary had
had no visitors early in the evening, and that he expected none, as far as she
knew, and that he had not lately appeared at all troubled, or in any way
apprehensive.
That was about all that the elderly housekeeper could tell him, and Nick
turned to the waiting detective.
“She is too deaf to have heard any disturbance in the library, Fallon, after
having gone to her bedroom,” he said quietly, with a gesture directing the
two women to remain in the front room.
“Yes, surely,” Fallon agreed.
“Come. We will go into the library.”
Nick led the way through the dim, simply furnished hall. He passed a
passageway leading to a side door. Beyond it was the library, in the east side
of the house, with a dining room nearly opposite across the hall, and a
kitchen and porch in the rear.
The door of the library was then open. A policeman who had heard them
enter had stepped into the hall and was waiting for them.
“One moment, Fallon,” said Nick. “What has been done in this room,
Grady, since the crime was discovered.”
“Nothing, sir,” said the policeman, gazing curiously at him. “Both women
say they have not entered the room, though the housekeeper opened this
door. I have disturbed nothing. Things are just as I found them.”
“Very good.”
 Nick paused on the threshold of the open door and studied with searching
scrutiny the tragic scene that met his gaze.
 CHAPTER II.

CONFLICTING EVIDENCE.

The library was a square room of moderate size, comfortably, though

simply furnished. An open desk stood against one of the walls, with a rise of
shelves on each side, partly filled with books. In the middle of the room was
a square, cloth-topped table, on which were several books and newspapers,
also an oil lamp with a green porcelain shade.
A large leather-covered armchair stood near the table, between it and a
swivel chair in front of the desk. A smaller chair near a window, the roller
shade of which was partly drawn down, was overturned on the floor.
To the right of the window hung a portière consisting of two heavy
tapestry curtains, suspended from a black walnut rod. They were drawn
nearly together, but between them could be seen a double door with small,
leaded glass windows. It opened upon a side veranda overlooking the tree-
shaded grounds east of and to the rear of the dwelling.
Nick noticed that one of the curtains was awry, and, glancing up, he saw
that it had been torn from one of the pins that fastened it to the transverse rod
above the door.
On the floor between this door and the table lay the body of the murdered
priest. He was a man of middle size, wearing the conventional black
garments of his calling. He was lying on his back, with his arms extended,
his head nearly touching a leg of the table, and with his smooth-shaved face
upturned in plain view of the detectives, a face on which the pallor and
peace of death long since had fallen.
Father Cleary had been stabbed twice in the breast, nearly in a line with
his heart, and his garments and the rug on which he was lying were saturated
with blood, then dark and congealed.
Nick Carter saw at a glance that the priest had been dead for several
hours.
“The scene is suggestive, Fallon; very suggestive,” he said, after a few
moments. “We will proceed deliberately, however, since nothing can be done
for this man. It’s a case of murder, pure and simple, if that can be. Let Grady
wait in the hall. I will study the evidence in detail.”
Fallon nodded and glanced significantly at the policeman.
Nick crossed the room and raised the window curtain. In the brighter light
that entered, the scene was even more vividly tragic and gruesome.
“No weapon is here,” said he, with searching gaze while he crouched to
examine the corpse. “The assassin took care not to leave it. It evidently was
a dagger, or a knife with a broad blade. Note the two gashes in the garments.
Either thrust would have been fatal. This man has been dead since last
evening, probably as early as nine o’clock.”
Nick had lifted one stiffened arm while speaking and dropped it to the
floor.
“Surely,” Fallon said simply.
“Here are stains of ink on his middle finger. He evidently was writing
when——”
Nick did not finish the remark. He arose and turned to the open desk, then
approached it. A sheet of paper was lying on it, also a pen that evidently had
been abruptly dropped.
“Ah, here is proof of it,” said Nick.
He bent forward and read from the sheet of paper merely the following
lines:
“To the Right Reverend Bishop Cassidy, Washington, D. C.
“My Dear Bishop: I feel compelled to ask your consideration of a matter
of which I have just become informed. Though the sacred secrecy of the
confessional forbids——”
That was all, written with a firm and flowing hand, and Nick straightened
up and turned to his companion.
“Yes, this settles it, Fallon,” said he. “Father Cleary was writing when his
assassin entered. Observe that he quickly dropped his pen, instead of placing
it in this tray with the others.”
“Yes, obviously,” Fallon agreed.
“Plainly, then, he was startled, or even alarmed by some unexpected
noise. That would not have been the case, Fallon, if his bell had rung, either
that of the front or the side door.”
 “But he may not have been alone at that time,” suggested Fallon. “The
person by whom he was killed may have been here.”
“That is not probable,” Nick quickly objected. “This letter which he
began to write denotes that he was alone, also that some person had just left
him, or only a short time before, and by whom serious information of some
kind had been imparted to him, so serious that he felt compelled to write
about it to Bishop Cassidy.”
“It must in that case have been something relating to the church.”
“Not necessarily. I do not, in fact, think that it was.”
“Why so?”
“Notice the next line: ‘Though the sacred secrecy of the confessional
forbids,’ ” Nick pointed out. “There he stopped and dropped his pen. Forbids
what? We know that it forbids his revealing what is imparted in confession.
That seems to have been the source of the information about which he
intended to write, judging from the beginning of the letter. It may not, of
course, have been part of a penitent’s confession. It may have been
something indirectly related with it, or referring to a confession.”
“I see,” Fallon nodded. “There seems to be no way to definitely
determine.”
“Not at present,” Nick replied, folding the sheet of paper and putting it in
his pocket. “Let’s go a step farther.”
Nick turned and took up the lamp on the table, shaking it gently and
peering into the chimney.
“Empty,” said he tersely. “The wick is turned up and charred. The lamp
burned until the oil was exhausted. The assassin did not extinguish the light.
He left in a hurry, no doubt.”
“He remained long enough to close the door leading into the hall,” said
Fallon. “The housekeeper found it closed this morning.”
“Father Cleary may have closed it when he received his first visitor.”
“You think there were two?”
“I do,” said Nick.
“Here together?”
“No. One came after the other had departed.”
“But why did he close the hall door after letting them out?” questioned
Fallon, a bit doubtfully. “Mrs. Kane’s statements imply that she usually
found it open in the morning.”
“I don’t think that he let them out, not both of them at least,” said Nick.
“Here is another door.”
“Ah, I see.”
Nick pointed to the portière hanging across it.
“He may have let the first visitor out this way, instead of by the front or
side door,” said he. “This door leading into the hall, in that case, still would
have been closed.”
“I see the point.”
“He may have admitted his second visitor through this curtained door, or
perhaps have left it open a little for ventilation after letting out the other,”
Nick continued to reason. “It may have been violently forced from outside,
on the other hand, alarming him while he was writing.”
“I follow you,” nodded Fallon.
“Notice that one side of the curtain is awry and torn from one of the pins
supporting it. The location of the body, too, between the window and this
table, shows that Father Cleary probably was approaching the window when
he was assaulted and stabbed. There is no evidence of a struggle. His
assailant evidently flung aside those curtains so violently that one was partly
torn from its fastening, and he then sprang at the priest and stabbed him
before he could defend himself.”
“That certainly seems, Nick, to be a reasonable reconstruction of the
murder itself,” said Fallon, noting the points mentioned.
“Let’s see what more we can find in support of it,” said Nick.
He now approached the portière and examined it. On the edge of one of
the curtains, where a hand evidently had grasped it, was a plainly discernible
red stain, obviously a bloodstain.
Nick called Fallon’s attention to it, then gazed at it with a puzzled
expression on his earnest face.
“The miscreant’s hand was soiled with blood after the stabbing,” said
Fallon. “He tore the curtain from the pin when leaving, instead of when he
entered, as you were led to infer. What are you thinking about?” he added,
noting Nick’s look of perplexity.
Nick parted the curtains before replying. He then found that the door was
set in a narrow casement, just wide enough to permit the two sections of the
door to open inward.
Nick opened both and found on the woodwork of the right-hand section,
or that to the right of a person standing on the veranda and looking into the
room, four stains of blood, evidently from parts of the fingers of a man’s
hand that had grasped that section of the door. Though they were too
smeared to be of value as finger prints, in so far as revealing the tissues of
the skin was concerned, they showed plainly the size and shape of the
fingers, which could only have been those of a man.
“By Jove, I don’t quite fathom this,” Nick remarked, after a moment.
“Fathom what, Nick?” questioned Fallon.
“These bloodstains.”
“Why do they mystify you? I see nothing strange in them. The murderer
evidently drew the portière and closed this door with a bloodstained hand.”
“I am not so sure of it.”
“How can you reason otherwise?”
“You overlook something,” said Nick. “It may be a very important point.”
“What is that? Explain.”
“Notice that it was the man’s right hand that grasped this section of the
window,” said Nick. “The relative size and position of the finger marks show
that, also that he must have been facing toward the room, not coming out of
it.”
“By gracious, that’s so!” said Fallon, gazing.
“That part of the portière which is stained and torn from the pin,
moreover, is on the same side of the window.”
“True.”
“To have grasped them with his right hand, therefore, the man must have
been backing out of the room, if leaving it.”
“True again.”
“There is one alternative,” said Nick.
“Namely?”
“That instead of backing out of the room—he was entering it.”
“But that is hardly tenable, Carter.”
“Why?”
 “Because his hand was stained with blood. He must have been leaving the
room after the murder,” Fallon argued.
“Unless——”
“Unless what?”
“Unless his hand was soiled with blood before he entered and killed the
priest.”
“But——”
“Stop a moment,” Nick interrupted. “I now am convinced that this
murder was committed in just the manner that I have described. Father
Cleary heard some one back of the portière, or forcing the window, and he
sprang up to see who was here. The intruder flung aside the portière and
stabbed him.”
“Well?”
“Notice this point,” said Nick. “The murderer evidently did not remain to
accomplish anything more. He did not go to the desk to see what the priest
had been writing, or he would, if my previous reasoning is correct, have
taken away the letter Father Cleary had begun.”
“Surely,” Fallon quickly allowed.
“We can safely assume, then, that the assassin got out as quickly as
possible,” Nick proceeded. “Surely, then, he would not have backed out. He
would have hurried straight out, drawing the portière and closing the double
door.”
“Undoubtedly.”
“The side of the curtain which is stained, also the same section of the
door, would have been to his left, therefore, and naturally would have been
grasped with his left hand.”
“Certainly.”
“That gives rise to a very pertinent question,” said Nick. “Why was his
left hand stained with blood?”
“You mean?”
“Most men wield a knife with the right hand,” Nick went on. “That is the
hand that should have been covered with blood from the knife used, not the
left, which naturally would have been raised to seize his victim by the throat
or shoulder to prevent resistance.”
 “By Jove, there’s no getting around that, Nick, as far as it goes,” Fallon
thoughtfully admitted, more deeply impressed and now more mystified. “But
these prints on the door show plainly enough that it was the right hand that
was soiled.”
“They also show that he must have been facing the room,” said Nick. “In
other words, Fallon, that he was backing out of it, which you admit is
improbable—or that he was entering it with blood on his hand, which you
also think is untenable.”
Fallon shook his head and frowned.
“Hang it, Nick, you’re mixing me all up,” he declared. “I won’t know in
another minute whether I’m afoot or horseback. You tell me what you think.
Never mind what I think. Your head is worth two of mine—yes, half a
dozen.”
“No, I think not,” said Nick, smiling faintly. “Plainly, nevertheless, these
bloodstains present inconsistencies not easily explained at this moment.”
“They do so, for fair.”
“We will look a little farther. You saw that I found this door unlocked?”
“Yes, I noticed that.”
“It was secured only by the latch, which can be lifted from either side. It
is safe to assume, since the lock is not damaged, that the assassin found the
door unlocked. Either that, or, as I have said, it was opened a little for
ventilation.”
“The latter seems quite probable,” said Fallon. “It was unseasonably
warm last evening.”
Nick stepped out on the veranda, instead of replying, Fallon following.
It extended from the side door, where two low steps led down to a gravel
walk running out to the street. The veranda was about twelve feet in length,
with a vine-covered trellis at the rear end of it, and with the outer side
protected with a scroll railing.
Near the trellis stood a large willow armchair, in which Father Cleary had
been accustomed to sit and read at times on warm, pleasant days.
Nick glanced in that direction and made another strange discovery.
 CHAPTER III.

THE MYSTERIOUS BANDAGE.

The first thing to catch Nick Carter’s eye after stepping out on the
veranda was a strip of white cotton cloth, also a piece of common white
string, both lying on the veranda floor near the willow chair mentioned.
The strip of cloth was somewhat soiled and wrinkled, also creased and
curled in a way, and Nick picked it up and examined it.
He found that it was about two feet in length and five inches wide, also
that it had been carefully folded lengthwise. On one soiled end of it were
stains of blood.
“By Jove, here’s another bit of curious evidence,” said he, after a careful
examination.
“It looks like a bandage,” said Fallon.
“That’s just what it is.”
“But why curious?”
“Note the wrinkles and creases and the way it curls,” said Nick. “Plainly
enough, Fallon, it has been bound around a man’s hand, or it would not have
retained these several turns and creases.”
“I see.”
“Hold out your hands, both of them. We can find out by readjusting these
quirks and turns on which hand it was worn.”
“Certainly. That’s a simple problem.”
Nick proceeded to fit the bandage, so to speak, to Fallon’s hands. It
would not fit the right hand, though turned in either direction, without
altering the original turns and wrinkles. It could be perfectly bound around
the left hand, however, and the result of Nick’s experiment was convincing.
“This is as plain as twice two,” said he. “It was worn by some man on his
left hand.”
“Surely,” Fallon agreed. “He probably had a sore hand, or a cut.”
“You are wrong,” said Nick. “That’s the curious part of it.”
 “Wrong?” questioned Fallon, puzzled. “Why so?”
Nick still had the bandage twined around his companion’s left hand.
“Notice these bloodstains,” he replied. “They are not on the inside of the
bandage, which would come next to a cut, or sore. They are on the outside of
it.”
“By Jove, that is a bit strange,” Fallon now declared.
“The blood did not soak from a wound, moreover, for the layer of cloth
beneath this outside one is perfectly clean, as you see.”
“True.”
“So, as you now can see, is the inside of the bandage, which came next to
the hand,” Nick continued, removing it and displaying the inner side. “There
is not a sign of blood, pus, salve, or liniment, as if it had been bound around
a wounded hand. It is perfectly clean, in fact.”
“Humph!” Fallon ejaculated, gazing at it with increasing perplexity.
“There is no question as to your being right. It speaks for itself. But what in
thunder do you make of it?”
“The hand was not injured,” said Nick.
“It may have been lame, or sprained.”
“The bandage would not have been removed in that case, Fallon,” Nick
replied. “If sufficiently lame to require a bandage, it would not have been
removed when the man arrived here. No man about to attempt a desperate
job with a lame hand would first weaken the hand by removing a bandage
with which it had been protected, or strengthened.”
“That’s true, also,” Fallon nodded. “You think it was worn by the
assassin?”
“I do.”
“When he entered?”
“No. Before he entered,” said Nick. “In order to have free use of his
hand, he evidently tore off the bandage and string and threw them aside
before he entered. Here are stains of blood on the string, also, proving that
those on the bandage were on the outside of it, as I have already
demonstrated.”
“You’re right, Nick,” agreed Fallon. “There is no denying it.”
“Take it from me, too, the man’s hand was not injured.”
“But why that bandage, then?”
 “For some other reason,” Nick said dryly. “What that reason was, Fallon,
remains to be learned. It would be a waste of time for us to try to guess it.”
“I agree with you.”
“The blood on the outside of the bandage evidently came from the man’s
right hand, moreover, which I already have pointed out was stained, not
after, but before he entered this door. This mysterious bandage confirms my
previous deductions.”
“By Jove, it’s a perplexing mess,” said Fallon, brows knitted. “I cannot
fathom why the scoundrel’s right hand was soiled with blood before he
entered this house. Why it afterward may have been is simple enough.”
“Let’s go a step farther,” said Nick, thrusting the string and bandage into
his pocket.
He then began a careful examination of the veranda floor, but he could
find no tracks, nor evidence of any description.
Leaving the veranda, Nick then inspected the walk leading out to the
street, also the neatly trimmed lawn adjoining it. The gravel walk retained no
footprints, but Nick had taken only a few steps when, abruptly halting, he
pointed to the greensward.
The grass was slightly bent and bruised. Faint though it was, the track of
a small shoe was discernible, showing its size and the direction in which it
was turned.
“I see,” Fallon nodded, crouching with Nick to examine it. “Some one
recently stepped here, not longer ago than last evening.”
“That some one was a child, a girl, or a woman with a small foot,” Nick
replied. “It most likely was the last, a young woman.”
“Why so?”
“Notice the prints of the heel, which sank a little into the sod. It was small
and quite high. The deduction is a simple one. Only young women wear
shoes with French heels. They are seldom found on girls, or on elderly
women.”
“By Jove, you overlook nothing, Nick.”
“Not this, surely, for it stares me in the face,” Nick replied. “Here’s
another. Notice that the first points nearly toward the street. This points
toward the rear grounds. Plainly, then, the woman was going toward the
street when she first stepped from the gravel walk, and she then turned in the
opposite direction.”
“That’s plain, too,” Fallon agreed. “But what do you make of it?”
Nick glanced back at the veranda for a moment.
“The woman came from the side door, or from that opening on the
veranda,” said he. “She walked as far as here, as if about to go to the street,
then she turned toward the rear grounds. Take it from me, Fallon, she was
Father Cleary’s first visitor last evening. He let her out, probably through the
door opening upon the veranda, and she started for the street. After hearing
him close the door, however, and knowing he was not watching her, she
turned in the other direction.”
“By Jove, I think you are right.”
“Come. We’ll try to follow the tracks.”
Nick traced them with no great difficulty. The trail led him for a short
distance diagonally across the grounds toward the back street. Then it
diverged abruptly in the direction of the low wall dividing the church
property from an adjoining estate.
Gazing over the wall, Nick discovered other tracks in the next yard,
where the grass was not as closely trimmed and was considerably trampled
down. It was in the side yard of a wooden dwelling somewhat back from the
street and about thirty feet from the wall.
Leaping over the low wall, Nick examined the sod and grass. He found
numerous intermingled tracks and indentations, including that of a slender
heel and others much broader and deeper. Passing his hand over the grass
and glancing at the palm, he found it slightly stained with blood.
“Here we have it, Fallon,” he said, rising and displaying his hand. “Here
is the key to the mystery, or to a part of it.”
“Good heavens!” Fallon exclaimed, gazing at it and then at the trampled
grass. “There was a fight here.”
“A very one-sided fight, Fallon, unless I am much mistaken,” Nick
replied.
“You mean?”
“It’s as plain as twice two, Fallon, as far as it goes,” said Nick,
confidently. “Father Cleary had a woman visitor last evening. She confided
something to him, or revealed it in a confession, about which he then sat
down to write to Bishop Cassidy.”
“As the unfinished letter indicates.”
“Exactly. After leaving him and pretending to start for the street, the
woman came this way and got over the wall into this yard. Here are her heel
prints in the sod. Why she came here and where she intended going is an
open question.”
“Plainly.”
“Be that as it may, she went no farther voluntarily,” Nick continued. “She
was intercepted by two men, at least; possibly three. I can find at least two
different heel tracks in the sod. The depth of them, also the trampled
condition of the grass, show plainly that there was a brief struggle. The
woman was overcome, though not without bloodshed, as also appears on the
grass.”
“Considerable blood, too, Nick, judging from your hand.”
“Enough to tell this part of the story,” Nick replied. “Probably, too, here
is where Father Cleary’s assailant got the blood on his right hand, as well as
on the outside of the bandage, before entering the rectory.”
“Yes, surely.”
“He tore off the bandage and cast it aside before undertaking the more
desperate game,” Nick added. “My opinion is, at present, that the scoundrel
knew that the woman had revealed something to the priest, whom he then
killed to prevent further exposure, while confederates who were with him
got away with the woman. That is my theory. Whether it is correct, or not,
remains to be discovered, as well as the identity of the knaves and the
whereabouts or fate of the woman.”
“I agree with you,” said Fallon gravely. “That seems to be the most
reasonable theory, if not the only one. What’s next to be done. Can we trace
these tracks any farther?”
“Not beyond the street, I fear, though I will try to do so,” said Nick. “I
will also question the people living in this house. They may have heard some
disturbance last evening. In the meantime, Fallon, you return to the rectory
and notify the coroner and a physician.”
“The coroner is a physician, Doctor Hadley.”
 “He will be sufficient, then, for the present,” said Nick. “You had better
talk with the chief, also, and tell him what I make of the case. I saw a
telephone on a stand in the hall.”
“I saw it, too.”
“Go ahead, then. I will rejoin you there a little later.”
Fallon readily acquiesced, turning and quickly retracing his steps to the
rectory.
Nick glanced again at the trampled grass, then traced the several faint
tracks as far as the sidewalk, where, as he had expected, the trail ended
abruptly.
He then rang at the door of the house, in the side yard of which he had
made his latest discoveries. The summons brought a middle-aged woman to
the door, who stated in reply to his questions that no disturbance had been
heard the previous evening, and that she knew nothing of what had
transpired outside of the house.
Nick saw plainly that she was telling the truth, and he did not long detain
her. Returning to the sidewalk, he noted that there were no dwellings
opposite, only several vacant lots, none of which was inclosed with a fence.
“The rascals may have gone in that direction,” he said to himself, after
vainly searching the street for tracks of a carriage or a motor car. “They
must, if they got away with the woman, have had a conveyance of some
kind. They may have crossed those lots, however, to the next street.”
Bent upon confirming this, if possible, Nick walked in that direction. He
had only just entered the nearest of the several lots, however, when he saw
some pieces of white paper scattered over the dry ground. They appeared to
be fragments of a torn letter, and were so fresh and clean that they must have
been recently dropped.
Nick picked up a few of the fragments and examined them. They were
written on only one side, in a dainty, feminine hand; but the few words on
each piece, none of which was more than an inch square, gave him only a
vague idea as to the character of the entire letter.
That was so suggestive, however, that Nick carefully searched the ground
for the remaining fragments, which had been somewhat scattered by the
wind, or designedly done by the person who had destroyed the letter. He
succeeded in finding enough of the fragments to feel reasonably sure that
they would nearly complete the torn sheet, and he inclosed them in his
notebook.
Nick then crossed the vacant lots to the next street, noting that the locality
was one in which such a crime as he now suspected could have been
committed without much danger of detection; but he could discover no
further clew to the movements of the woman and her assailants, and then
retraced his steps to the rectory.
The coroner had arrived during his absence and was viewing the remains
of the murdered priest. Nick did not remain to talk with him, however, but
beckoned for Fallon to join him on the veranda.
“I must be going, now, for I have an appointment this morning,” he
explained. “You can tell Doctor Hadley, also the chief, what I make of the
case. Here is Father Cleary’s unfinished letter, which you had better hand to
the coroner. I will try to see you later and give you further assistance.”
Detective Fallon thanked him, and Nick then departed.
 CHAPTER IV.

A CONNECTING LINK.

Nick Carter had spent much less time at the St. Lawrence rectory than
one might infer from the nature and extent of his investigations. He had
covered the ground rapidly, despite the numerous deductions and
explanations with which he had assisted Detective Fallon, from whom he
parted shortly before ten o’clock.
Something like twenty minutes later, Nick alighted from a taxicab at a
handsome stone residence in Massachusetts Avenue. It was that of Senator
Ambrose Barclay, one of the leading statesmen then in the higher house, and
the man directly responsible for Nick Carter’s arrival in Washington late the
previous night.
A butler admitted the detective and at once ushered him into a richly
furnished library, where Nick was almost immediately joined by both
Senator Barclay and his daughter Estella, a beautiful brunette in the twenties.
The great service already done them by the detective was fresh in their
minds, only a month having elapsed, and their greeting was extremely
cordial.
“I got your wire saying you would see me this morning,” Senator Barclay
then said, while Stella quietly closed the door. “I’m very glad you could
make it convenient to comply with my request. I have not forgotten how
deeply I am indebted to you, Carter, for having saved my reputation in that
foreign-spy affair. I will not say my honor, of course, for I was in no degree
culpable, though malicious persons, or an uninformed public, might have
thought differently.”
“I was very well aware of it, Senator Barclay, and I made sure that your
name did not appear in the matter,” Nick replied. “But let the dead bury the
dead. What’s the trouble, now, that you again need my aid?”
“I am in a quandary, possibly in an equally bad mess,” said the statesman.
“It concerns, to begin with, the same young man who was robbed of the
government coast-defense plans by those infernal foreigners, aided by that
traitor, Dillon, all of whom woolly-eyed me into friendly relations with them
for more than a year. I cringe with chagrin when I think of it.”
“But how is Harold Garland involved in your present trouble?”
questioned Nick, keeping him to the point.
“Involved in it!” blurted Senator Barclay. “Damn it—excuse me, Stella; I
forgot you were here. How is Garland involved in my present trouble? Hang
it, Carter, he is something more than involved in it. He is the trouble.”
Nick laughed, while Stella Barclay blushed profusely.
“Suppose you explain, senator, without any expletives,” Nick suggested.
“Yes, dad, dear, do,” pleaded Stella. “Tell Mr. Carter the whole business.
Don’t mind me, I shall survive it.”
“It can be told in a nutshell, Carter,” said Senator Barclay familiarly.
“Since you opened his eyes to the devilish treachery of that jade, Madame
Irma Valaska, Garland has transferred his affection to my daughter. He
always was fond of her, mind you, and he now declares that he loves her. I
am glad that he does, and she him. I am fond of Garland myself, as far as
that goes, for he’s a clean-cut, manly, and wonderfully capable fellow. I
know of no man whom I would rather have for a son-in-law.”
“Permit me to extend my best wishes,” said Nick, with a sort of droll
pleasantry, glancing at the crimson face of the smiling girl. “I think, like
your father, that Harold Garland is a remarkably fine fellow.”
“I think so, too, Mr. Carter,” Stella said simply.
“But what is the trouble?” Nick inquired, turning again to her father.
“What is wrong with Garland?”
“That is what I want you to learn,” Senator Barclay said gravely.
“Garland is not himself. He is frightfully worried about something.”
“You don’t know about what?”
“No; I only suspect. Although he firmly denies it, Nick, he is in serious
trouble of some kind. It is something that came up about a week ago, when
Stella and I first noticed his changed manner and appearance.”
“Changed in what way?” Nick inquired.
“He has become indescribably moody and depressed. I have watched him
covertly at times and seen him wearing an expression of utterly
indescribable anxiety. He has lost twenty pounds in a week and looks as pale
as a corpse. Something must be done, Carter, and you are the man who must
do it.”
“We are dreadfully anxious,” put in Stella, with an appealing glance at the
detective. “Do, Mr. Carter, see what you can learn about him, or from him.”
“You have questioned him, of course,” said Nick.
“Yes, vainly.”
“Does he say nothing at all in explanation of these changes?”
“He attributes them to our imagination and insists that there is nothing
wrong,” said Senator Barclay. “I know better, however, and that he is all
wrong. I called him down quite severely night before last, Mr. Carter, and he
then made the remark which afterward led me to send for you.”
“What was that?”
“I charged him with being in serious trouble of some kind and insisted
that he must confide in me,” Senator Barclay explained. “My persistency
irritated him a little. He seemed to lose his head for a moment, and he
asserted quite resentfully that I must cease interrogating him. He then added
impulsively that I would be quite lucky if I kept out of the trouble myself.”
“H’m, is that so?” said Nick. “Did you ask him to explain?”
“Yes, certainly. He declared that he meant nothing definite, however, that
he had spoken impulsively and only in a cursory way. I am sure,
nevertheless, that the remark had much more serious significance, and that
he implied that I might become involved in the very trouble with which he
was burdened.”
“That is a natural inference,” Nick agreed.
“And you know, too, what it might signify,” Senator Barclay responded
gravely. “There is only one bad mess, Mr. Carter, in which I could be
involved with Garland. That is something relating to the theft of those
government plans, and the fact that my name was kept out of that
unfortunate affair.”
“That is what I have in mind,” bowed Nick.
“You also know, of course, that the miscreant who stole them from Dillon
after he had received them from Irma Valaska, is still at large. I refer to Andy
Margate. He is capable of any kind of knavery. If he——”
“I know all about Andy Margate and of what he is capable,” Nick
interposed. “It may be, of course, that he still is in Washington. He may be