“How many shots did you hear over the wire?” he questioned Ward.
“Four.”
“Did the receiver click right after that?” continued the detective.
“Not for fifteen or twenty seconds — perhaps half a minute.”
“Four shots,” said Cardona thoughtfully. “That’s the number of bullets that were in the dead man’s body.”
“Which means—”
“That if anybody was with him when he called, it’s a sure bet that’s who killed him.”
“He said that Judge Tolland was there,” Ward asserted.
“So you told me. Was Caulkins reliable?”
“He was the Wise Owl,” said Ward without a smile. “Apt to get fanciful at a typewriter — but not on the telephone, when talking with me.”