e stopped a foot in front of the coroner and snarled:
"I don't know who you are, nor what you are, nor what you want, but I
ain't no information bureau--See? So git t' hell out o' here if you
know what's good for you!" With that he turned and disappeared inside
the hangar.

We looked at one another. The signs seemed propitious.

"Would it do any good to try to bribe him?" I asked.

"You can try it if you want to; I don't care for the job," Simpson
smiled.

"No," the coroner interposed. "He was with Woods that night and he
won't talk."

"Shouldn't we get the police?" suggested Simpson.

"That wouldn't do any good," the coroner replied. "Wait a minute! I
think I've got it." And with that he went inside.

Above us we heard the hum of a plane. We turned to watch it dip and
glide and loop, in the afternoon sunlight. The sun, catching its
wings, made it stand out against the blue sky like some fiery
dragon-fly. It flew up, turned a somersault and nose-dived for a
thousand feet, swung around in a wide circle, flew across the field at
about four hundred feet, circled again and slid downward. Closer and
closer it came to the ground, until the horizon was lost and it seemed
to be gliding along the earth itself at terrific speed. Finally it
nosed up, touched the earth, bounced away as though it were a rubber
ball, touched again, and at last came to a stop within a hundred yards
of where we were standing.

A girl climbed from it, and with a sickening clutch at my heart I
recognized who it was. Mary had been aeroplaning with Woods instead of
automobiling as I had supposed. At the sight of her, laughing gaily at
some witticism that Woods made as they walked across the field toward
us, my head spun with hatred and jealousy of the man.

I had no time to observe more, for there were angry shouts within the
hangar and the coroner came bounding out, with the red-haired
mechanician close behind him. The coroner had in his hand what looked
like an iron crow-bar, and as the mechanician caught him, this bar
became the center of the struggle. We hurried to the coroner's aid,
but before we could reach him, the mechanician gave him a vicious kick
in the stomach that sent him sprawling and helpless. With a curse, the
mechanic picked up the tool they had been struggling for and dashed
back into the hangar.

The coroner lay writhing where he had fallen, and could not speak. His
breath was completely knocked out. We p