Have you ever thought," persisted Bristow, "why Withers told Greenleaf
and me yesterday morning that he was in the pawnshop when the man with
the gold tooth was in there? Why should he say that when Abrahamson
contradicts it at once by telling you they were at no time in the shop
simultaneously?"

"Did Withers say to you outright, flat and unmistakably, that he saw the
fellow inside the shop?" Braceway's voice had in it the ring of
combativeness.

Bristow tried to remember the exact words Withers had used. Also, his
harping on Withers' possible guilt struck him as absurd when he
considered the strength of the case against Perry.

"I can't swear he did," he admitted at last; "but there's no doubt about
the impression he gave us. Why, Abrahamson himself told you Greenleaf was
positive Withers and the other man were there at the same time."

"Oh," Braceway said, obviously a little bored, "That's one of the things
we have to watch for in these cases--wild impressions, the construing of
words in a different way by everybody who heard them. It's a minor detail
anyway."

"I don't get you at all," Bristow said, eyeing him intently.

"What do you mean?"

"Your conviction that Morley's the guilty man, your refusal to accept the
case against Perry Carpenter, and your impatience in discussing Withers."

"Think over Miss Fulton's story," Braceway retorted. "If it does anything
at all, it strengthens the suspicion that Morley's the man we want. And
Roddy's story--on its face, it damns Morley! Withers had no motive
except, a remote possibility, that of jealousy. Morley's motive was as
old as time; the desperate need of money."

"Well, let's grant that, for the moment. What do you do with the evidence
against the negro? He was after money."

Braceway laughed.

"To tell the truth," he admitted, "I don't do anything with it. I'll go
further: it seems flawless, and yet----"

His face settled into serious lines.

"The report from the laboratory is unanswerable," Bristow went on. "It's
as good as a statement from an eyewitness."

"Yes; it is. Still, in some way, I don't feel sure--But I'll say this: if
my trip to Washington, our trip, isn't successful, I'll quit guessing and
theorizing. I'll agree, without reservation, that Perry's the man."

Bristow hesitated before making his next remark:

"Of course, I'm not employed by Withers. My only connection with the case
is a volunteer one. Yours is entirely different--and I rea