e upon the stairs frightened him. At any rate he pulled open
the showroom door--the one with the gong; Locke, still in the hall,
screamed and both fled up these stairs to the roof and away."

Pendleton had waited patiently until his friend finished. Then he
said, with a twinkle in his eye:

"You say the murderer opened the show room door, the gong rang and
then Locke screamed. Now, old chap, that's not possible. If Locke is
deaf, he couldn't hear the gong; and so there would be no occasion for
him to cry out."

"I think if you'll go back over what I've really said," spoke
Ashton-Kirk, "you will find that I have made no mention of Locke
crying out because of the gong. I said the murderer opened the door
that has the gong. Then Locke screamed, not because he heard anything,
but because of the sight he saw."

"Ah!"

"He caught a glimpse of Hume upon the floor--as we saw him."

"You think, then, that Locke's intentions were not murder?"

"At the present time I am led to think so. The confederate either was
forced to kill to save himself, or he had nursed a private scheme of
revenge. And the ferocity of the blow with the bayonet inclines me to
prefer the latter as a theory."

"That brings us back to both Morris and Spatola," said Pendleton,
gravely. "By all accounts both bore Hume a bitter grudge. But the fact
that both criminals escaped by the roof shows familiarity with the
neighborhood, as Miss Vale pointed out to you. This seems to point to
Spatola."

"So does the purchase of the bayonet, and in the same indefinite
fashion," said Ashton-Kirk. "But come, we motored to Christie Place
more to inquire about this same Italian than anything else. So let's
set about it."

They thanked the policeman in charge and left the building. As they
proceeded down the street toward the house in which the newspapers had
informed them Spatola lived, the investigator paused suddenly.

"I think," said he, "it would be best for us to first see Spatola
himself, and ask a few questions. This might give us the proper point
of view for the remainder."

And so they once more got into the car; and away they sped toward the
place where the violinist was confined.

CHAPTER XII

ANTONIO SPATOLA APPEARS

Ashton-Kirk and Pendleton were admitted to the cell room at the City
Hall without question; but a distinct surprise awaited them there.
Through a private door leading from the detectives' quarters they saw
the bulky form of