Cardona divined that this was Professor Roger Biscayne. The introduction proved him to be correct.
Cardona was about to lead the way into the apartment when the commissioner stopped him.
“Let us go over this, step by step,” he suggested. “So far, neither Professor Biscayne nor myself know what has happened here.
“We have been discussing Silas Harshaw on the way to this place, and I find that Professor Biscayne knew the old man. Therefore, he may be able to give us some unexpected assistance.”
“Very well,” said Cardona. “This afternoon, Doctor George Fredericks, Harshaw’s physician, called at the hotel and asked if the old man was in his apartment.
“Harshaw had no telephone in the place. He wanted to be alone and undisturbed. A boy came up and tapped at the door. There was no response.
“Doctor Fredericks expressed anxiety. He stated that he feared something had happened to the old man.
“A policeman was summoned. It was necessary to smash the door off its hinges, as it was double-bolted on the inside. There is the wreckage.”
Cardona led the way into a plainly furnished living room and indicated another door at the rear of the room. Like the first, this door was broken also.
“No one was in here,” declared Cardona, “nor was any one in the room that Harshaw used as a laboratory” — he pointed to the other side of the living room — “so they broke into the old man’s study. There, they found his body.”