I do not like the atmosphere of a prison. I
suppose I ought to go. If the poor man is innocent he needs help
badly. He is caught in a net of circumstantial evidence that may
send him to the electric chair. If I were certain he is innocent,
I should not hesitate."

He bent his head in thought. After a long pause he looked up, his
eyes troubled.

"I shall go, Mr. Hite. Can it be arranged?"

"Sure it can. After what McCall said, they'll not raise any
obstacles to anything you want to do. I'll have Hale go along with
you."

"Have you heard from your reporters about the telephone call, Mr.
Hite?"

Hite's eyes gleamed. "Yep. I heard from 'em. You sure got a bull's
eye then, Professor. The records show that someone called Flynn's
home just about when the explosion occurred. The man in the
filling station remembers that a guy called about that time. He
can't give a very good description. There was no car, Professor.
The man at the service station says he saw the man go into the
patch of woods. He thought at the time that was because he wanted
to get to the scene of the explosion. For that matter everybody in
the road was trying to get there. A few minutes afterward, the man
at the filling station says he saw a man wheel a motorcycle out of
the woods and ride past. He kinda thought it was the same man,
though he didn't take particular notice. They were all excited
about the explosion. That means that the man probably had his
motorcycle parked in the woods, while he was waiting for Flynn to
come home.

"Does that help you, Professor?"

"No, except that it corroborates a theory I had about the matter.
It merely fits in with the rest of the devilish pattern."

No difficulty was encountered when the three men came to the
Tombs. Sergeant Conners was there ahead of them. He was not going
to permit the prisoner to work a sympathetic gag on the old
scientist. Conners realized that Brierly had considerable
influence. If 'Fingy' could induce the old man to use his
influence in his behalf, it would not be so easy to convict him.

'Fingy' was not pleased at the presence of the police officer. He
made the best of it however. He realized that he was not in a
position where he could dictate terms.

"Professor," he began, "I don't know about this taking an
impression of my mouth and the other new fangled scientific bunk.
But I know about you. I hear you're a straight shooter and I want
to spill the whole thing to you."

He gul