McDowell followed the doctor in--and the reporters followed the lieutenant in. Gag or not, thought McDowell, these guys will be as good to me as I am to them. And if it is a gag, we'll show 'em that we know how to find out about such, anyway. Doc ignored the room teeming with people, and went to work. He made test after test, and then pored through a couple of volumes from his bookcase. Finally he gave that up and faced the group, casting a glance at McDowell. McDowell said: "This is off the record until I find out what he's got to say. If it's O.K., you get it first hand, O.K.?" The reporters nodded. Doc cleared his throat. "The skin is human--so is the blood. Indications are the feathers were growing out of the skin, not merely inserted." "You're certain?" gasped one reporter. "I'm reasonably sure," qualified the doctor. "Skin ... well, skin has certain tests to prove it. This stuff is human skin, I'm certain. It couldn't be anything else. The feathers--I tried to classify them, but it will take a professional ornithologist to do that." "But Doc," queried the reporter, "if that's human skin, how can feathers be growing out of it?" "Ask me another," said the doctor, puzzled. "Huh," grunted the reporter. "Man from--?" He shut his trap but quick, but the words carried enough connotation. "Look," said McDowell, "you can use that Man from Mars gag if you want to, but don't say we said so. It's your own idea, see?" "Right, lieutenant," they said, happy to get this much. It would make a bit of reading, this item. "Now," said McDowell. "Doc and I are going over to Professor Meredith's place and ask him if he knows what kind of feathers these are." One reporter spoke up quickly. "I'm holding mine until we get Meredith's report," he said. "And I've got a station wagon outside. Come on, lieutenant and Doc--and any of you mugs that want to ride along." There was a grand rush for the door. * * * * * Professor Meredith looked the feather over carefully, classifying it as best he could. He sorted through several books, consulted many notes of his own, and made careful counts of the spines-per-inch along the shaft of the feather. He noted its coloring carefully and called for a general statement as to the color, size, and general shape of the feather. "This is done somewhat like you file fingerprints," he told the lieutenant. "But here at home I'm stumped. I've never seen that kind before. However, over at the university we have a punched-card sorter. We can run through all known birds and see if any of the feathers agree with this specimen." This time they took Professor Meredith along with them. Using official sanction, the professor opened the laboratory and entered the building. It was three hours later that the professor made his official statement to the police and to the press.