Evidently the thief had been after that one, to him priceless,
object. Having got it, he was content to get away, leaving
untouched the other treasures, some of which were even
intrinsically valuable for the metal and precious stones in them.
The whole affair seemed so strange to me, however, that, somehow,
I could not help wondering whether Norton had told us the whole or
only half the story as he knew it about the dagger and its
history.

Still talking with the archaeologist, Kennedy and I returned to
his laboratory.

We had scarcely reached the door when we heard the telephone
ringing insistently. I answered, and it happened to be a call for
me. It was the editor of the Star endeavouring to catch me, before
I started downtown to the office, in order to give me an
assignment.

"That's strange," I exclaimed, hanging up the receiver and turning
to Craig. "I've got to go out on a murder case--"

"An interesting case?" asked Craig, interrupting his own train of
investigation with a flash of professional interest.

"Why, a man has been murdered in his apartment on Central Park,
West, I believe. Luis de Mendoza is the name, and it seems--"

"Don Luis de Mendoza?" repeated Norton, with a startled
exclamation. "Why, he was an influential Peruvian, a man of
affairs in his country, and an accomplished scholar. I--I--if you