A hand clutched at her heart. She read again hazily--

JAMES CUNNINGHAM MURDERED

--then collapsed fainting into a chair.




CHAPTER X

KIRBY ASKS A DIRECT QUESTION

The story of the Cunningham mystery, as it was already being called,
filled the early editions of the afternoon papers. The "Times" had the
scoop of the day. It was a story signed by Chuck Ellis, who had seen
the alleged murderer climb down by a fire escape from the window of
Cunningham's bedroom and had actually talked with the man as he emerged
from the alley. His description of the suspect tallied fairly closely
with that of Mrs. Hull, but it corrected errors in regard to weight,
age, and color of clothes.

As Kirby walked to the Equitable Building to keep his appointment with
his cousins, it would not have surprised him if at any moment an
officer had touched him on the shoulder and told him he was under
arrest.

Entering the office of the oil broker, where the two brothers were
waiting for him, Kirby had a sense of an interrupted conversation.
They had been talking about him, he guessed. The atmosphere was