But I have made it a practice since taking up my residence here
to wear a cap heavily padded. I apprehend sandbags and pieces of
loaded tubing."
"The tube is not made," declared Kerry, "which can do the job. You're
harder to kill than a Chinese-Jew."
"Your own escape is almost equally remarkable," added Seton. "I rarely
miss at such short range. But you had nearly broken my wrist with that
kick."
"I'm sorry," said Kerry. "You should always bang a door wide open
suddenly before you enter into a suspected room. Anybody standing
behind usually stops it with his head."
"I am indebted for the hint, Chief Inspector. We all have something to
learn."
"Well, sir, we've laid our cards on the table, and you'll admit we've
both got a lot to learn before we see daylight. I'll be obliged if
you'll put me wise to your game. I take it you began work on the very
night of the murder?"
"I did. By a pure accident--the finding of an opiated cigarette in Mr.
Gray's rooms--I perceived that the business which had led to my recall
from the East was involved in the Bond Street mystery. Frankly, Chief
Inspector, I doubted at that time if it were possible for you and me
to work together. I decided to work alone. A beard which I had worn in
the East, for purposes of disguise, I shaved off; and because the skin
was whiter where the hair had grown than elsewhere, I found it
necessary after shaving to powder my face heavily.
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