Sime pointed at Ashton-Kirk with his pencil.
"You've got it," said he. "That was it, sure enough."
"And you think the man was an Italian?"
"Well, he talked and looked like one. Rather well educated too, I think."
Ashton-Kirk thanked the clerk, and the now beaming Mr. Bernstine, and with Pendleton left the place.
"Well," said Pendleton, as they climbed into the car, "this about fixes the thing, doesn't it? The musician, Antonio Spatola, is the guilty man, beyond a doubt."
The investigator settled back after giving the chauffeur his next stop.
"Beyond a doubt," said he, "is rather an extreme expression. The fact that the bayonet was purchased by an Italian who gave his address as Christie Place is not enough to convict Spatola. All sorts of people live in that street, and there are perhaps other Italians among them."
Pendleton called out to the chauffeur to stop.
"We'll settle that at once," said he. "Spatola's picture is in the papers. We'll ask the clerk if it is that of the man to whom he sold the weapon."