like that
old millionaire was. We went over that room and that house. We frisked
good and plenty. There was nothing suspicious. The walls were thick.
The floor was hardwood. The ceiling was some kind of patent plaster,
that's like stone. I got two looks at the door, and you tried the
windows. Now what's the answer, chief? I'll say you are never going to
clear this case up. I don't think you can. It's going to be one of them
unsolved mysteries. If you do figure something out it ain't going to be
proved to my satisfaction. The thing couldn't be done the way it was
done!"

"That's definite," smiled Drew, tapping the desk with the tips of his
well-polished finger nails. "You're talking in a circle. I'll solve the
case, or I won't sleep!"

"It's impossible!"

Drew sorted his papers and bent over them. He turned the swivel chair
by a pressure of his knee. His eyes narrowed as he studied Delaney's
lugubrious face which was sadly in need of a shave.

"Impossible," he repeated softly. "There's no such word, Delaney. It's
a fool's excuse. Now I don't want you to be a fool. Don't make the
mistake of allowing a seeming impossibility to dull your efforts.
There's always a way around everything which looks high and impassable.
They used to go round the Horn. Now they cut through the Isthmus. They
used to think men were supernatural. Now they know that nothing works
without a law. I admit that I don't know how Stockbridge came to his
end. I don't want to dwell upon it, either. But this we do know, by
these papers, that he was well-hated, threatened and marked for death
by an individual or clique of individuals. That is all we know, and all
we ever need to know, in order to proceed on the basis that a material
agency struck out his life with a material substance--such as lead
propelled by smokeless powder."

"Whew!" exclaimed Delaney, rising.

"As for the library wherein he was slain," continued Drew. "As for it,
we must revert to simple geometry. Matter occupies space. A material
act was committed by a material body which got past all our precautions
and struck the magnate down. What is there in this world, which is at
one and the same time, material and yet capable of penetrating through
a door or wall without a trace? Give me that answer, and we'll get
results. What is it?"

"Damned if I know! I'm all balled up! You talk like a college
professor. You mean something that is and something that isn't. Good
morning!"

Delane