en she saw that it was not her would-be murderer who was entering, but
those who came to rescue. A bright flush illumined her cheeks and her
eyes gleamed. But the change was too sudden for her tortured soul. She
rose from her chair, then sank fainting to the floor.

Berner threw himself on his knees beside her, sobbing out, "She is
dying! She is dying!"

Muller turned on the instant, for he had heard the door on the other
side of the hall open, and a tall slender man with a smooth face and a
deep scar on his right cheek stood on the threshold looking at them in
dazed surprise. For an instant only had he lost his control. The next
second he was in his room again, slamming the door behind him. But it
was too late. Amster's foot was already in the crack of the door and he
pushed it open to let Muller enter. "Well done," cried the latter, and
then he turned to the man in the room. "Here, stop that. I can fire
twice before you get the window open."

The man turned and walked slowly to the centre of the room, sinking down
into an arm-chair that stood beside the desk. Neither Amster nor Muller
turned their eyes from him for a moment, ready for any attempt on his
part to escape. But the detective had already seen something that told
him that Langen was not thinking of flight. When he turned to the desk,
Muller had seen his eyes glisten while a scornful smile parted his
thin, lips. A second later he had let his handkerchief fall, apparently
carelessly, upon the desk. But in this short space of time the
detective's sharp eyes had seen a tiny bottle upon which was a black
label with a grinning skull. Muller could not see whether the bottle was
full or empty, but now he knew that it must hold sufficient poison to
enable the captured criminal to escape open disgrace. Knowing this,
Muller looked with admiration at the calmness of the villain, whose
intelligent eyes were turned towards him in evident curiosity.

"Who are you and who else is here with you?" asked the man calmly.

"I am Muller of the Secret Service," replied his visitor and added,
"You must put up with us for the time being, Mr. Egon Langen. The police
commissioner is occupied with your step-sister, whom you were about to
murder."

Langen put his hand to his cheek, looking at Muller between his lashes
as he said, "To murder? Who can prove that?"

"We have all the proofs we need."

"I will acknowledge only that I wanted Asta to disappear."

Muller smiled. "What