The horse was pulled up to a sharp standstill immediately below, just as Converse turned to the window once more. In the light which fell from the lamp behind him he could make out the faint glint of brass buttons and the brighter reflection from a nickel-plated star: the rider was an officer of the mounted force. What errand required such speed, and at such an hour?
"Is it you, Captain Converse?" the rider began, breathlessly. "You are to come to headquarters right away."
"What is it?" demanded the Captain.
"The Old Man told me to say it was a new development in the De Sanchez case; he sent me himself. McCaleb came in off his beat half an hour or so ago, and he looked as though he'd been seeing ghosts. Whatever it is, he brought in the news, and it must be mighty important to rout the Old Man out at this hour." "The Old Man," be it known, was the Chief of Police.
"Very well, Harrison, I'll be along at once." The messenger wheeled his blowing horse and disappeared into the night again.
Converse was not long in following. As he left the room Mr. Follett cried cheerfully after him, "Sail, ho!" The latter was accustomed to these unceremonious interruptions of their post-prandial communions, and he forbore any display of curiosity.
But if Mr. Follett's figurative farewell was a prognostication that the voyage of discovery was no longer to be conducted in unknown seas, or, to drop metaphor altogether, that some fact had come to light which promised explanation of the mystery, he was scarcely a true prophet. This the Captain had presented to him in a startling manner almost as soon as he entered the Chief's private office. He was impressed at once by that official's unusual agitation and the white, excited countenance of the young officer who stood by his desk, nervously and alternately mopping his brow and the inside of his helmet.
The Chief glared at Converse as though the Captain himself had been guilty of some unusual offence.
"Another murder, Converse!" he cried, with unsteady articulation. "Good Lord, what kind of a force have I got under me, anyhow? McCaleb, here, has just brought in a most astounding report. I don't know which way to turn; I feel—"
"May I inquire who has been murdered?" said Converse, quietly.