The prisoner struck the table fiercely with his clenched hand.
“Go ask the men who hired me to come here and steal the papers showing the attitude the Attorney General and the Department of Justice would take against the Fairbanks railroad combine. Ask those who wanted to get the news first, before it was given out to the public.”
“Do you think they would incriminate themselves by admitting such a rascally piece of business?”
“Perhaps not,” sullenly, “but I’ll make them.”
“Secondly, the motive of your presence here does not clear you of the suspicion of being the murderer. Did you get the papers?”
“No. When I saw that dead body I stopped for nothing. You don’t believe me, but I’ve told you God’s truth. I don’t mind doing time for house-breaking; but I ain’t hankering for the electric chair.”
The coroner rose abruptly and signaled to the guards.
“You will be summoned again, Nelson,” he said, and as the guards closed about the prisoner, he announced that the hearing was adjourned until one o’clock that afternoon.
CHAPTER V
THE SIGNET RING
Excitement ran high among the spectators as they crowded into the rooms a few minutes before one o’clock. The burglar’s story had impressed them by its sincerity. But, if he was innocent, who could be the criminal?