The conspirators merely suspected her mission in Haskell; they were afraid she knew more of their plans than she really did.

The telegram, stolen by Miss La Rue, had convinced the leaders that she might prove dangerous if left at large, and they had determined to hold her helpless until their scheme had been worked out and they were safely beyond pursuit.

That was undoubtedly the one object of her capture.

Lacy had no knowledge that Mendez's band was at the rendezvous; he supposed them to be on a cattle raid to the south, with only a man or two of his own left as guard over Cavendish.
Cavendish! Her mind grasped clearly now the fact that the man was not dead.

It had not been his body found in the Waldron Apartments, but that of some other man substituted for purposes of crime.