d sharp as a revolver shot.

"Well! What about the struggle at the foot of the steps?"

Morley, startled by the unexpected abruptness, answered shakily.

"I tell you I--I didn't see any struggle. That man, or those men, tried
not to make any noise at all. He thought nobody saw him."

Braceway took a hand again in the examination, but their combined efforts
got nothing further from the tired prisoner.

They tried to shake him with the accusation that he had entered the
bungalow Monday night; they told him also they might take him back to
Furmville at once, charged with the murder.

"It wouldn't make any difference to me," he said, making a weak attempt
to laugh. "It wouldn't matter now. I'm not anxious to live anyhow."

Without warning, utter collapse struck him. He flung himself half-around
on his chair so that his arms rested on its back, cradling his face. His
body was contorted by gasping sobs, and his feet tapped the floor with
the rapidity of those of a man running at top speed.

They left him with Major Ross. On the way back to the hotel, Bristow
asked:

"What about Withers' story of his struggle--the 'big, strong man' who
flung him down the walk?"

"There must have been another, a third man who came down the steps,"
Braceway answered quietly.

"An assumption," observed Bristow, "which rather strains my credulity."

Braceway said nothing.

"I believe," Bristow spoke up again, "what the fellow said tonight was
true--substantially true."

"Do you?" retorted Braceway, thoroughly non-committal.

"Anyway there remains the problem of who pawned the Withers emeralds and
diamonds this afternoon."

"It may not be a problem," said Braceway. "It may be that they weren't
the Withers stuff at all."

"Ah! I hadn't thought of that."

They entered the hotel and sat down in the lobby, now almost deserted.

"I think," Bristow announced, careful to keep any note of triumph out of
his voice, "I'll go back to Furmville in the morning." He yawned and
stretched himself. "I'm about all in, weak as a kitten. What are you
planning?"

Braceway's chin was thrust forward. He looked belligerent, angry.

"I'm going to Baltimore tomorrow. I intend to run down every clue I have
or can find. I'm going to take up every statement he made tonight and
dissect it--every point. I want all the facts--all of them."

Bristow turned so as to face him squarely.

"Why don't you go back with me? Why keep on fighting what I've proved