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The delicatessen dealer lumbered into the elevator which had stopped; Pendleton was about to follow, but his friend detained him, and the car dropped downward without them. "That cab," said Ashton-Kirk, "is sure to be a night-hawk; and more than likely it is put up at Partridge's. Pardon me a moment."
As they were descending the stairs to the street, Pendleton said: "And now he wears a silk hat, does he? But you have not made sure of the man. You forgot to inquire if Mr. Locke favored the German dramatists." For a moment Ashton-Kirk looked puzzled, then he burst into a laugh. "Ah," said he, "you remember that." "Of course I remember it. How can I forget it?
And Pendleton felt himself grow suddenly faint and sick as he recognized Edyth Vale. For a moment there was a silence between the two men; then Ashton-Kirk said, dryly: "Miss Vale has, apparently, not been altogether frank with us in this matter." "You think then " began Pendleton in a voice of terror. But Ashton-Kirk stopped him. "I think many things," said he.
"One is on the main line Kittridge Station; the other is on the Hammondsville Branch at a place called Cordova." "Thank you," said Ashton-Kirk. And when the door had once more closed behind his aid, the investigator continued to Pendleton: "I figured upon some of the equipment reaching here.
And no sooner was the dinner completed than Ashton-Kirk's big French car was brought to the door and both young men got into it. "You've looked up the road to Cordova?" inquired Ashton-Kirk of the chauffeur. "Yes, sir," answered the man. "Very good road and almost parallel with the railroad. No trouble getting there by dark." "All right. Get there as soon as you can."
"I am still assured that we have the motive for the crime in the attempt to steal the painting," he said. "But it will do no harm to get all the light we can upon every side of the matter. The smallest clue," importantly, "may prove of the utmost value at the inquest." Ashton-Kirk smilingly nodded his entire assent to this. Then Curran showed in the clerk.
"Fuller was busy and I thought I'd bring these in myself. It's my report on Hume." "Ah, thank you." Ashton-Kirk took up the sheets and began running his eye through them. "As you get deeper into this record, did Hume keep his promise?" Burgess smiled. "As to possibilities, do you mean? Why, yes. Indeed, I rather think he exceeded them."
"Prints, lithographs, mezzo-tints, engravings, paintings, it made no difference. And all of the same person. He had hundreds, I guess, and every one of them was of General Wayne." Ashton-Kirk leaned back in his chair with a faint breath of triumph. "When a portrait of General Wayne was offered him," continued Brolatsky, "he never haggled over it.
Here the small horse stretched its neck and shook itself until the harness rattled. Pendleton looking from master to beast thought they might exchange places much to the master's ultimate well-being. There was a short pause; then Dr. Mercer bent his head toward them. "When you visited the institute a few nights ago," said he, "you also, at my request, visited Professor Locke." Ashton-Kirk nodded.
At this sudden display of resentment, the turnkey approached. "I will go back to my cell," Spatola told him, "and please do not bring me out again. My nerves are bad. I have been worried much of late and I can't stand it." The turnkey looked at Ashton-Kirk, who nodded his head.
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