The constable strode through the open doorway to the foot of the stairs and listened. The sound came from the upper story. He ran upstairs, mounting two at a time, and presently located the noise. It came from an end room, and somebody was hammering on the panels. The door was locked, but the key had been left in the lock, and this Constable Wiseman turned, flooding the dark interior with light.
"Come out!" he said, and Jasper Cole staggered out, dazed and shaking.
"Somebody hit me on the head with a sandbag," he said thickly. "I heard the shot. What has happened?"
"Mr. Minute has been killed," said the policeman.
"Killed!" He fell back against the wall, his face working. "Killed!" he repeated. "Not killed!"
The constable nodded. He had found the electric switch and the passageway was illuminated.
Presently the young man mastered his emotion.
"Where is he?" he asked, and Wiseman led the way downstairs.
Jasper Cole walked into the room without a glance at Frank and bent over the dead man. For a long time he looked at him earnestly, then he turned to Frank.
"You did this!" he said. "I heard your voice and the shots! I heard you threaten him!"