THE MAN CALLED "MERRILL"
"I don't want to make myself a nuisance," he said, "but before we go any further, Miss Nuttall, there are certain matters on which you ought to be informed. I have every reason to believe that I know who was responsible for the outrage of last night, and I do not intend risking a repetition."
"Who do you think was responsible?" asked the girl quietly.
"I honestly believe that the author is in this room," was the startling response.
"You mean me?" asked Jasper Cole angrily.
"I mean you, Mr. Cole. I believe that you are the man who planned the coup and that you are its sole author," said the other.
The girl stared at him in astonishment.
"You surely do not mean what you say."
"I mean that Mr. Cole has every reason for wishing to marry you," he said. "What that reason is I do not know completely, but I shall discover. I am satisfied," he went on slowly, "that Mr. Cole is already married."
She looked from one to the other.
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