Very deliberately the banker put on his glasses, and then with equal
deliberation began a careful examination of the scrap of paper.

"Well?" said Moxlow.

"A second, please!" said the banker.

But the seconds grew into minutes before he was ready to risk an
opinion.

"We are waiting on you, Mr. Harden," said Moxlow at length.

"I should say that this is a marginal fragment of a Gas Company bond,"
said the banker slowly. "Indeed there can be no doubt on the point. The
paper is the same, and these lines in red ink are a part of the
decoration that surrounds the printed matter. No,--there is no doubt in
my mind as to what this paper is."

"What part of the bond is it?" asked Moxlow.

"The lower right-hand corner," replied the banker promptly. "That is why
I hesitated to identify it; with this much of the upper left-hand corner
for instance, I should not have been in doubt."

"Excused," said Moxlow briefly.

The room became blank before John North's eyes as he realized that a
chain of circumstantial evidence was connecting him with the McBride
murder. He glanced about at a score of men--witnesses, officials, and