Page:The Master of Mysteries (1912).djvu/448

 Valeska shudderingly did so. "There's the tiniest drop of blood there!" she exclaimed. "It's a strange case and would puzzle any one who hadn't brains. I wonder what poor old McGraw would have done alone?"

Astro smiled grimly.

"Do you know who did it?" Valeska asked breathlessly.

"Of course."

"What, already? It seems impossible. There are three persons to suspect, aren't there?"

"Who are they?"

"Why, Moffett and the watchman and the mysterious woman who was undoubtedly here to-night."

"That woman is still in the building. I saw her hiding by a corner of the stairway as we came up; but I didn't mention it, as I knew the men below would get her if she attempted to escape."

"Which one did it, then?"

"That's what I shall have to prove before I leave the building. I'm sure enough; but I need evidence. Just at present what worries me is, how did that calendar happen to fall down from the wall where it was fastened with one of these spiral thumb-tacks?' He pointed to those on the drawing-board.

At this moment they heard the bell of the elevator, which now was standing at the floor below while Mcgraw made his second arrest, begin to ring furiously. Astro ran out into the hall and listened. In a moment McGraw entered the car with his two men and the car descended. The dial in the front of the shaft showed its descent to the fifth floor; then the marker stopped.

Astro pointed to it. "They've captured the girl,"