CHAPTER XVI
THE EXHIBITS
We entered the building and at McKelvie's request Detective Jones was sent for. We awaited his arrival in silence, merely because McKelvie refused to talk, but he found his golden tongue readily enough when Jones came forward and blandly inquired what he could do for us.
The police detective was a shorter man than McKelvie, but heavier of build, with a pleasant enough face and fairly agreeable manners. He seemed to consider himself well enough acquainted with McKelvie magnanimously to overlook his eccentricities, and asked in a bantering way what he expected to get out of a case which had already been satisfactorily solved by the police.
McKelvie laughed good-humoredly, and answered in kind. "I was asked to investigate," he said, "and my aim, you know, is always to oblige."
"Whom? Yourself or your client?" inquired Jones shrewdly.
"My client, of course," McKelvie returned sententiously. "But, seriously, Jones, I did not come here to exchange witticisms, pleasant though it is to me to do so with such an opponent as yourself."
"What did you come for then, you blarneyer?" demanded Jones.
"I want a look at the exhibits. Come now, be a sport and show them to me."
"They will be of no use to you," answered Jones a trifle suspiciously. "They are all evidence against the accused."