hrewd expression coming into
his face.

"Suppose you take it for granted, for a few minutes, that I am innocent,
and tell me when Rufus Shepley was killed, and where, and just how."

"Very well, Mr. Prale. A hotel attendant found the body at an early hour
this morning. It was in Mr. Shepley's room. The man was fully dressed.
The physicians say that he was killed about eleven o'clock last night."

"I understand; go on, please."

"He had been stabbed through the heart," said the captain. "Death had
been instantaneous."

"But why suspect me of the crime?" Prale asked.

"This was found beside the body," the captain replied.

From the desk before him he picked up a fountain pen. It was an
elaborate pen, chased with gold, and on one side of it was a tiny gold
plate, upon which Prale's name had been engraved.

"You recognize it?" the captain asked.

"Certainly; it is mine."

"Oh, you admit that, do you?"

"Naturally. But I fail to see how it came to be beside the body of Rufus
Shepley."

"A man who has committed a murder generally is in a hurry to get away,"
said the captain. "It is easy to drop a fountain pen from a pocket,
especially if a man is bending over."

"I don't even know where Shepley's rooms were located," Prale said. "I
didn't know the pen was missing until this minute----"

"Possibly not," replied the captain of detectives.

"And I am quite sure I do not know how it came to be beside the body,
but of one thing I am certain--I did not drop it there."

"Naturally, you would say that."

"And where is the motive?" Prale demanded. "Suppose you tell me what you
have against me, and then I'll proceed to tear your shabby evidence to
pieces."

"We have this particular case so well in hand that I can afford to do
that," the captain said. "Attend me closely and you'll see the futility
of denying your guilt."

"I am waiting to hear the evidence," Prale said.

"Very well. In the first place, you have recently spent some years in
Central America."

"Ten years in Honduras," said Prale.

"You made a fortune down there. We have communicated with the
authorities there and have learned many things about you. We have
learned that you have a hot temper and know how to handle men. You have
been known to beat natives terribly----"

"Rot! I was kinder than nine out of ten men of affairs. I have punished
a few natives caught stealing, for instance."

"Recently, Mr. Prale, you cashed in on all your properti