flaw in the reckoning of the murderer was that the rope,
with which entry was made, was found. It showed me as definitely
as though I had seen it, the farmyard where Amos Brown lived. The
twine also showed me that it had been in a 'pouncing' room in a
hat factory for a long time.

"Boyle's watch which had not been cleaned for a long time and
which we placed was in his possession about three years ago did
not show that it had ever been in a 'pouncing' room. And you can
depend on it, that one could not keep a watch for a single day in
such a room without the fur getting inside the case, to say
nothing of keeping it there for months or years.

"In the Schurman case, in New York, there was the fortuitous
incident of the apple. Amos Brown was not a trained criminal, you
see. He did not think, when he bit into the apple that he was
leaving what the police call a 'calling card'. It will be found on
investigation that Amos Brown's teeth fit into the 'moulage' of
the apple.

"In addition to that, unfortunately for the murderer, 'Fingy' had
a splendid alibi, an alibi that the killer could not foresee."

"The Flynn murder was easy. The man who made the telephone call
need not have known what he was doing. But it is safe to say that
it was Brown. Mr. McGuire would trust as few persons as possible
in this. The call that killed Flynn might just as well have been
made from Canada."

"But, Professor, you accused him of murdering Goldberg and Tonti,"
protested Judge Fletcher.

"Yes. Justice Higginbotham was going to make a spectacle of his
mastery of a hobby. He had everything arranged. He was going to--"

"I had the wires disconnected, Professor, interrupted Judge
Higginbotham."

"Connecting the wires would be just about a minute's work."

"But McGuire was down near the water. How could he throw a beam of
light at that tube in the daylight."

"That's right, Judge. McGuire was facing the east. The sun was
just right to reflect a powerful beam of sunlight into the door to
the photo-electric cell with a piece of mirror. If you will look,
Judge, you will find that door open.

"The act before that was the kidnapping of Matthews' nephew.
Brown, inherently a decent chap, balked at that but he was too
involved by then. When they could not make me go to New York,
Brown was told to send us a tooth as evidence of what they were
prepared to do to the little boy. Brown balked at that too. He
obtained some older boy's tooth, probabl