“Any details known as to the appearance of the murderer?” asked the representative of the General Press Association.
“The landlady says that, as far as she could see, the assailant was a tall man with a black beard,” replied Freyberger.
“Thanks,” replied the other, “good night.” He hurried off jubilantly to get his copy in and Freyberger went up the garden path to the house.
“When Klein reads that description of himself in the morning papers,” said Freyberger, to himself, “he will smile, if that face could ever smile. It will make him feel even more secure than if the truth were told that the landlady could not describe the assassin at all. Of course, the coroner’s inquest will contradict what I have said. Well, we must get hold of the reporter at the inquest and doctor his account. Damn the Press, for one criminal it catches it assists in the escape of twenty.
“Now, what will Klein do first thing to-morrow morning? He will most possibly buy a newspaper, therefore every newspaper shop in the neighbourhood must be watched.
“I say, most possibly. I would have said, most probably, were Klein an ordinary criminal.
“However, we must leave no stone unturned.”
CHAPTER XXIX
WHEN Hellier opened his paper next morning, he read the following head-lines: