his kind 'a thing it's
okay with me. Just keep that four-legged Dracula away from me. No more
blood-letting this week, please."

Jim ignored him. He locked the door swiftly and turned on the fox.

"You can come out now," he said. "It's safe here."

* * * * *

The animal crossed the thick rug with a bound, pounced to the bed
with a stealthy spring and curled into a little ball of fur. Its eyes
closed and it was motionless.

"I'll be damned." Drake slouched down in the leather chair beside the
cocktail table and dragged out a much smoked pipe. "That's gratitude
for you."

Puffy gazed with growing respect and admiration for the faults of the
insane.

"I suppose," he suggested, "that you expected that pint-sized bundle
of fur to kick one foot, toss off her coat and do a snake dance right
here in the bedroom?"

Drake sat motionless. Smoke drifted in lazy circles around his head.

"What about the diamonds?" he asked. "Get any dope?"

Adams edged carefully away from the bed and glided safely away from
the sleeping fox. He dipped a slip of paper from his wrinkled pocket
and started to read mechanically.

"Largest diamond came from Africa--weight one pound and a
quarter--didn't get the name of it, because I couldn't pronounce it
anyhow." He looked up anxiously. "Is that enough?"

Jim put the pipe away carefully.

"For brevity," he admitted. "It's perfect. But it will do."

"So?"

"From what I saw of that diamond last night," Drake continued, "it
must have weighed at least two pounds. Perfectly cut and yet by no one
in this country. Puffy, we've a perfectly swell mystery on our hands."

"And the fox?" Adams added, with a suspicious look at the drowsy
animal on the bed. "What in hell's bells made you bring it here?"

"George Lardner," Drake said slowly.

"_What?_"

"Lardner was at the zoo this afternoon," Jim explained. "He paid a
large sum of money to make sure he could steal the fox tonight. If
Lardner wanted it that bad, what could I lose?"

He didn't mention the sudden vision of Sylvia Fanton he had seen,
haunting and lovely in the cage.

"So he thinks Sylvia had the rock?" Puffy's face awakened with new
angles.

"So do I," Drake admitted. "At least she knows a lot about it."

He jerked upright suddenly, caught by the sudden movement on the bed.
Adams wheeled, his eyes following Jim's.

"Holy Ned!" he shouted. "The girl...."

* * * *