The word, as the Italian pronounced it, or rather hissed it, with emphasis on the last syllable, brought Henry instantly to his feet, out of a sort of dozy quietude.
"You think it's possible?" he gasped, his gaze fixed on the reporter.
"I think so," McGinity replied.
The word, indeed, carried such convincing evidence that it was impossible to think otherwise than that Mr. Zzyx was no other than Peter, Antonio Ranzetti's missing chimpanzee.
McGinity began to walk up and down the room, hands in pockets, while I explained to Mrs. LaRauche, and Chief Meigs, the new evidence we had just succeeded in getting from the Italian animal trainer.
"Oh, Mr. McGinity!" exclaimed Mrs. LaRauche in astonishment. "Is it possible that you've solved the mystery of Mr. Zzyx? What is your theory? Tell us, quickly, what you think happened?"
"Well," said McGinity, after a pause, "Antonio has just given us some important information, but whether it'll clear up matters, I can't say. Anyhow, here it is:
"Now, we've got to guess what happened. In my opinion, Peter, the missing chimpanzee, answers Mr. Zzyx's description in every detail. He probably got out of his cage—he knew how to operate a lock—and escaped from his keeper's house after Antonio had been arrested. He roams about in the dark, finally reaching LaRauche's flying field. Somehow, he gets into the hangar. Nosing about curiously, he climbs up on the rocket. Finding the door into the projectile open, he creeps inside, curls up, and goes to sleep. According to Antonio, the chimpanzee was accustomed to doing things like that, hiding in queer, dark places, like a closet, or under the bed.
"Now, he's still fast asleep when LaRauche returns from his sub-stratosphere flight," McGinity continued. "No doubt LaRauche had inspected the interior of the rocket, and placed the box containing the scroll inside, earlier in the evening. It was all ready to be hooked on to the plane; the only thing left to be done was to seal it. This LaRauche could accomplish in a few minutes, using a torch-blower to fuse the metal-catch that secured the door. If the noise awakened Peter, well, it was just too bad! He couldn't get out, and he couldn't make himself heard.
"How he ever survived the concussion, when the rocket was dropped from the plane to the beach, or escaped suffocation during the night, is something beyond me. But he did survive, and he had strength and sense enough to attract outside attention by hammering against the metal sides of the rocket. This trick of hammering, when he wanted to get out of a dark place, like a closet, he had been taught by his master, Antonio."