“Yes. Double Z entered by picking the locks. There were tiny marks to prove it. He left his companion in the vestibule. The man was smoking. There are cigarette butts in the corner, and traces of ashes.
“Double Z went upstairs, opened the door of Tolland’s room, and committed the double murder. He went down and summoned his man. They carried out Tolland’s body, as the stair and wall marks show.
“To confuse the police, Double Z fired two shots; then he took his own message which Tolland had received, and left it with Caulkins. I have seen that message. Both the paper and the ink show that it was written some time ago.
“As I said before, Caulkins would not have kept it under cover. Cardona has simply added it to the other correspondence received from Double Z, without questioning its age.”
RUTLEDGE MANN was silent as the cab rolled on. Then, again came the voice beside him.
“We know now,” were its words, “that Double Z has been active for more than one year. He is a shrewd schemer. His activities are designed to create terror. They must have kept Tolland in constant fear.
“Double Z is not simply an eccentric individual. He is a bold murderer; a good shot with an automatic; a man who has accomplices. He is also a man of strength, who, with one other, can quickly remove a body. He knows what is going on in the underworld, and he’s a master of subtle murder, as the death of Philip Farmington shows.
“Yet so far, I have no exact clew to his identity. My plan is to search at every possible angle. You will play a passive part, directing the movements of my agents at my order. I have talked with you tonight, to learn your reactions to my findings. Are they clear?”
“They are,” declared Mann.
“In this envelope” — a packet was thrust in Mann’s hands — “you will find instructions regarding my agents, and also facts pertaining to the death of Philip Farmington. Follow all the details and make complete reports. You will receive new orders from me. But do not expect to meet me again for a long while.