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Rh the fact that she was poisoned; for Doctor McCutchen himself said there was no trace of poison discoverable in her blood-cultures, yet he is as convinced as I am of the truth." Odell turned suddenly and faced his superior. "The thing that gets me is that the guilty person is there beneath that roof, talked with me to-day, was within reach of my hand; and yet I was helpless to accuse. It is maddening! I've practically proved the fact of two murders and two attempted ones; I have the sawdust ashes, the pieces of filed wire, and the substituted needle for direct tangible clues; and I'm up against a stone wall. No motive, no slightest inkling as to the identity of the murderer, and yet among the ten people who make up that household the solution lies."

"One of the ten has skipped out, remember," Captain Lewis remarked. "When we lay our hands on Peters—"

A knock upon the door interrupted him, and at his impatient growl a subordinate entered. When the chief saw who the newcomer was he half rose from his chair.

"You've got him?"

"Yes, sir," the man chuckled. "Caught him just as he was trying to sneak into his sister's house. He's outside; shall I bring him in?"

At the captain's emphatic nod he withdrew, and the former turned to Odell.

"Peters!" he exclaimed with immense satisfaction. "Perhaps you'll get something more to work on now. If he isn't willing to come across with what he knows watch me make him."

But it was a wilted and wholly abject Peters who stumbled over the threshold and collapsed into the chair opposite the chief. He panted like a frightened rabbit, and