"Then I suppose we might as well charge the crime up to the spirits and drop the case!" he said ironically. "No, Greig, we're not going on a still hunt for murderous, disembodied shades. We're going after living people—and we're not going very far. What puzzles you and the clerks—how anyone managed to get to him and fire the shot—is so simple that I'm surprised you're worrying over it. I have already solved that."
Greig stared at his superior in undisguised amazement.
"Why—er—how was it done?" he stammered.
In reply, Britz produced the needle which he had found at the feet of the murdered man.
"Examine this and see if it doesn't solve the puzzle," he said.
Greig looked a long while at the long, thin, glistening instrument.
"There's blood half-way down from the point," he commented audibly. "But I don't see what it explains."
"Of itself, it wouldn't mean much," admitted Britz. "But taken in connection with the fully loaded pistol and the lack of powder marks about the bullet wound, it explains fully why none of the men in the office saw the murderer."
"But—but how do you figure it out?" asked Greig, more puzzled than ever.
"I shall not reveal that at present," answered Britz. "It will help our investigation to permit the murderer to believe that we don't know how he got to Whitmore. From the statements we have obtained, it is evident that conflicting interests are involved in the crime. We shall direct our energies toward bringing these adverse elements into active conflict, and, in the heat of battle, the murderer will be revealed."