y turned to the man by the door. "Chief, one of the queer things
about this mystery is that all the witnesses had somethin' to conceal.
Go right through the list, an' it's true of every one of us. I'm
talkin' about the important witnesses, of course. Well, Cole an' I
found a paper in the living-room of the apartment where Horikawa was
killed. It was in Japanese. I ought to have turned it over to you,
but I didn't. I was kinda playin' a lone hand. At that time I didn't
suspect my cousin James at all. We were workin' together on this
thing. At least I thought so. I found out better later. I took the
paper to him to get it translated, thinkin' maybe Horikawa might have
written some kind of a confession. James lost that paper. Anyhow, he
claimed he did. My theory is that Horikawa had some evidence against
him. He was afraid of what that paper would tell."

"Unfortunately for your theory it was a clerk of mine who lost the
paper. I had nothing to do with it," James retorted coldly. "No doubt
the paper has been destroyed, but not by me. Quite by accident, I
judge."

His cousin let off a bomb beneath the broker's feet. "You'll be glad
to know that the paper wasn't destroyed," he said. "I have it, with a
translation, in my pocket at the present moment."

James clutched the arms of his chair. His knuckles grew white with the
strain. "Where--where did you find it?" he managed to say.

"In the most private drawer of your safe, where you hid it," Kirby
replied quietly.

Cunningham visibly fought for his composure. He did not speak until he
had perfect self-control. Then it was with a sneer.

"And this paper which you allege you found in my safe--after a burglary
which, no doubt, you know is very much against the law--does it convict
me of the murder of my uncle?"

The tension in the room was nerve-shattering. Men and women suspended
breathing while they waited for an answer.

"On the contrary, it acquits you of any guilt whatever in the matter."

Phyllis Cunningham gave a broken little sob and collapsed into her
husband's arms. Jack rose, his face working, and caught his brother by
the shoulder. These two had suffered greatly, not only because of
their fear for him, but because of the fear of his guilt that had
poisoned their peace.

James, too, was moved, as much by their love for him as by the sudden
relief that had lifted from his heart. But his pride held him
outwardly cold.

"Since you