“You never saw a gun like that before, eh?” he exclaimed.
Demarest admitted the fact after a curious examination.
“I'll bet you never did!” Burke cried, with satisfaction. “That thing on the end is a Maxim silencer. There are thousands of them in use on rifles, but they've never been able to use them on revolvers before. This is a specially made gun,” he went on admiringly, as he took it back and slipped it into a pocket of his coat. “That thing is absolutely noiseless. I've tried it. Well, you see, it'll be an easy thing—easiest thing in the world!—to trace that silencer attachment. Cassidy's working on that end of the thing now.”
For a few minutes longer, the two men discussed the details of the crime, theorizing over the baffling event. Then, presently, Cassidy entered the office, and made report of his investigations concerning the pistol with the silencer attachment.
“I got the factory at Hartford on the wire,” he explained, “and they gave me Mr. Maxim himself, the inventor of the silencer. He said this was surely a special gun, which was made for the use of Henry Sylvester, one of the professors at Yale. He wanted it for demonstration purposes. Mr. Maxim said the things have never been put on the market, and that they never will be.”
“For humane reasons,” Demarest commented, nodding approbation.
“Good thing, too!” Burke conceded. “They'd make murder too devilish easy, and it's easy enough now.... Well, Cassidy?”
“I got hold of this man, Sylvester,” Cassidy went on. “I had him on the 'phone, too. He says that his house was robbed about eight weeks ago, and among other things the silencer was stolen.” Cassidy paused, and chuckled drily. “He adds the startling information that the New Haven police have not been able to recover any of the stolen property. Them rube cops are immense!”
Demarest smiled slyly, as the detective, at a nod from his superior, went toward the door.
“No,” he said, maliciously; “only the New York police recover stolen goods.”