ral times a millionaire. His death even by
illness would have been worth a column. But the horrible and grewsome
way of his taking off, the mystery surrounding it, the absence of any
apparent motive unless it were revenge, all whetted the appetite of the
editors. It was a big "story," one that would run for many days, and
the "News" played it strong.

As Kirby had expected, he was selected as the probable assassin. A
reporter had interviewed Mr. and Mrs. Cass Hull, who occupied the
apartment just below that of the murdered man. They had told him that
a young man, a stranger to them, powerfully built and dressed like a
prosperous ranchman, had knocked on their door about 9.20 to ask the
way to the apartment of Cunningham. Hull explained that he remembered
the time particularly because he happened to be winding the clock at
the moment.

A description of Lane was given in a two-column "box." He read it with
no amusement. It was too deadly accurate for comfort.

The supposed assassin of James Cunningham is described by Mrs. Cass
Hull as dressed in a pepper-and-salt suit and a white, pinched-in
cattleman's hat. He is about six feet tall, between 25 and 30 years
old, weighing about 200 or perhaps 210 pounds. His hair is a light
brown and his face tanned from the sun.

His age and his weight were overstated, and his clothes were almost a
khaki brown. Otherwise Mrs. Hull had given a very close description of
him, considering her state of mind at the moment when she had seen him.

There was one sentence of the story he read over two or three times.
Hull and his wife agreed that it was about 9.20 when he had knocked on
their door, unless it was a printer's error or the reporter had made a
mistake. Kirby knew this was wrong. He had looked at his watch just
before he had entered the Paradox Apartment. He had stopped directly
under a street globe, and the time was 9.55.

Had the Hulls deliberately shifted the time back thirty-five minutes?
If so, why? He remembered how stark terror had stared out of both
their faces. Did they know more about the murder than they pretended?
When he had mentioned his uncle's name the woman had been close to
collapse, though, of course, he could not be sure that had been the
reason. To his mind there flashed the memory of the note he had seen
on the table. The man had called on Cunningham and left word he might
call again. Was it possible the Hulls had just come down from t