"Please, sir, there is a man outside who asks to see you."

"What does he want?" asked Commissioner Horn, looking up.

"He says he has something to report, sir."

"Send him in, then."

The attendant disappeared, and the commissioner looked up at the
clock. It was just striking eleven, but the fellow official who
was to relieve him at that hour had not yet appeared. And if this
should chance to be a new case, he would probably be obliged to
take it himself. The commissioner was not in a very good humour
as he sat back to receive the young man who entered the room in
the wake of the attendant. The stranger was a sturdy youth, with
an unintelligent, good-natured face. He twisted his soft hat in
his hands in evident embarrassment, and his eyes wandered helplessly
about the great bare room.

"Who are you?" demanded the commissioner.

"My name is Dummel, sir, Johann Dummel."

"And your occupation?"

"My occupation? Oh, yes, I - I am a valet, valet to Professor
Fellner."

The commissioner sat up and looked interested. He knew Fellner