The young man turned upon him quickly.

"Does it occur to you that every argument I advanced to furnish you
with a motive for the crime might be applied with equal weight
against--against Miss Kellner?"

"Doris!" flamed Mr. Wynne. For the first time his perfect
self-possession deserted him, and he came to his feet with gripping
hands. "Why--why--! What are you talking about?"

"Sit down," advised the chief quietly.

Mr. Czenki glanced at them once uneasily, then resumed his fixed stare
out of the window.

"Sit down," said the chief again.

Mr. Wynne glared at him for an instant, then dropped back into his
chair. His hands were clenched desperately, and a slight flush in his
clean-cut face showed the fight he was making to restrain himself.

"All the property this old man owned, including the diamonds, would
become her property in the event of his death--or murder," the chief
added mercilessly. "That's true, isn't it?"

"But when she entered this room her every act testified to her
innocence," Mr. Wynne burst out passionately.

The chief shrugged his shoulders.

"She has been living at a little hotel in Irving Place," the young
man rushed on. "The people there can satisfy you as to her
whereabouts on Saturday?"

Again the chief shrugged his shoulders.

"And remember, please, that the best answer to all that is that Haney
had the diamonds!"

"It doesn't necessarily follow, Mr. Wynne," said the other steadily,
"that she committed the crime with her own hands. It comes down
simply to this: If there were _only_ sixty thousand dollars' worth of
diamonds then the one motive which Czenki might have had is
eliminated; because Haney had practically fifty thousand dollars'
worth of them, and here are some others. There would have been no
share for your expert here. And again, if there were only sixty
thousand dollars' worth of the diamonds you or Miss Kellner would
have been the only persons to benefit by this death."

"But Haney had those!" protested Mr. Wynne.

"Just what I'm saying," agreed the other complacently. "Therefore
there _were_ more than sixty thousand dollars' worth. However we
look at it, whoever may have been Haney's accomplice, that point
seems settled."

"Or else Haney lied," declared Mr. Wynne flatly. "If Haney came here
alone, killed this old man and stole the diamonds there would be none
of these questions, would there?"

Mr. Birnes, who had listened silently, arose sudden