"Excellent," said the secret agent. "I thought it possible, but scarcely dared hope for it."
One after another and with delicate care he applied the newly exposed surfaces of the clot to one of the bits of glass; a fair sized smear of red appeared upon the smooth glaze. Then he drew the second glass across the top of the first; the result was that he now possessed two distinct smears of the blood.
With much satisfaction he placed these upon the top of the highboy.
"Now we'll leave them to dry," said he, "and in this place they'll not be likely to be disturbed."
Fuller was filled with curiosity as to the meaning of the foregoing performance, but the other had already resumed his prowling up and down, and the aide understood that this was no time for questions.
After a little, Ashton-Kirk opened the door at the back of the library, and they entered the rear room. There was a long window overlooking the lawn, and a door opening into the hallway. The room was scantily furnished; but upon the shelves were a stack of books in wrappers; also there were a number of filing cabinets.
The secret agent looked at some of the books.
"Remnants of editions," he said. "Morse was his own publisher, it seems."
Fuller examined the window.