d pieces of loaded
tubing."

"The tube is not made," declared Kerry, "which can do the job. You're
harder to kill than a Chinese-Jew."

"Your own escape is almost equally remarkable," added Seton. "I rarely
miss at such short range. But you had nearly broken my wrist with that
kick."

"I'm sorry," said Kerry. "You should always bang a door wide open
suddenly before you enter into a suspected room. Anybody standing behind
usually stops it with his head."

"I am indebted for the hint, Chief Inspector. We all have something to
learn."

"Well, sir, we've laid our cards on the table, and you'll admit we've
both got a lot to learn before we see daylight. I'll be obliged if
you'll put me wise to your game. I take it you began work on the very
night of the murder?"

"I did. By a pure accident--the finding of an opiated cigarette in Mr.
Gray's rooms--I perceived that the business which had led to my recall
from the East was involved in the Bond Street mystery. Frankly, Chief
Inspector, I doubted at that time if it were possible for you and me to
work together. I decided to work alone. A beard which I had worn in the
East, for purposes of disguise, I shaved off; and because the skin was
whiter where the hair had grown than elsewhere, I found it necessary
after shaving to powder my face heavily. This accounts for the
description given to you of a man with a pale face. Even now the
coloring is irregular, as you may notice.

"Deciding to work anonymously, I went post haste to Lord Wrexhorough
and made certain arrangements whereby I became known to the responsible
authorities as 719. The explanation of these figures is a simple one. My
name is Greville Seton. G is the seventh letter in the alphabet, and S
the nineteenth; hence--'seven-nineteen.'

"The increase of the drug traffic and the failure of the police to cope
with it had led to the institution of a Home office inquiry, you see.
It was suspected that the traffic was in the hands of orientals, and in
looking about for a confidential agent to make certain inquiries my name
cropped up. I was at that time employed by the Foreign office, but Lord
Wrexborough borrowed me." Seton smiled at his own expression. "Every
facility was offered to me, as you know. And that my investigations led
me to the same conclusion as your own, my presence as lessee of this
room, in the person of John Smiles, seaman, sufficiently demonstrates."

"H'm," said Kerry, "and I take it your investi