eny me the right to see her," said Ward.

"I can--most emphatically!" Britz corrected him.

"You mean that I am not permitted to speak with my sister?"

"That is precisely what I mean. She may consult with counsel at a
reasonable hour of the day. But she may not receive other visitors until
she has been committed to the Tombs."

"Do you--do you intend to send her there?" demanded Ward, his anger
mounting.

"She will be regularly committed--it is merely a matter of routine."

"But you are making a grave mistake," pleaded the brother. "Isn't there
some way of preventing this additional humiliation?"

"There is a way," said Britz calmly.

"How?" inquired Ward eagerly.

"By giving us the full story of Mr. Whitmore's death as you know it."

"But I can't--I'm not at liberty to talk," protested Ward. "I am acting
under Mr. Luckstone's instructions."

"I thought so," Britz returned dryly. "So we'll let the law take its
course."

"And I'm not permitted to see her to-night?" pleaded Ward.

"No," said Britz curtly. Then, after a moment, he added: "If you will
call here at 10 o'clock to-morrow morning, I may convince you of the
desirability of acting with the police, instead of against them."

When Ward was out of the room, Britz turned smilingly on the chief.

"I'm about ready for the grand climax," he said.

"That so?"--mockingly from the chief.

"Yes. I've tried all the lines of least resistance," continued the
detective, unresentful of the other's aggravating manner. "They led me
against a wall of silence. Now I'm going to discharge my heavy ordnance
against the wall."

"Got something up your sleeve--eh!" drawled Manning.

"Not up my sleeve--in my mind," said Britz, tapping his forehead. "I
wanted to save Mrs. Collins as much notoriety as possible. I could see
no use in parading all her domestic troubles before the public. So I
gave her a chance to take me into her confidence, but she refused. She,
or Collins, or Beard, or Ward, could have saved us all a deal of trouble
by breaking silence. Everyone of them knows what we are furiously
striving to learn. I addressed myself to each of them individually,
tried to obtain enlightenment from each. Now I shall fight them
collectively--I'll get the truth, regardless of whom I have to crush in
the process of extraction."

The chief shook his head dubiously.

"It looks to me now as if you're all in a muddle. You've got two of them
under arrest--why don't you loc