Professor Brierly dropped wearily into a deep chair on the porch. He shuffled the sheets of paper each with its bullet hole surrounded by powder marks. "A man who kills another, usually uses the tools he knows best; frequently he uses the tools of his trade. That is easiest; following the lines of least resistance. Or, if killing becomes his profession, he adopts and adapts certain tools for his purpose, with which he becomes familiar. "Just see how this murder was accomplished. A professional need not be ashamed of the way the pane of glass was inserted, the use of the rope, the climbing irons, or the spurs. The man who did this has used all these materials and tools before. "Even in this country, where we are far behind certain European countries in such matters, it should be a simple matter for the police to pick up the killer. They can go through their records for the men who are accustomed to rob houses this way. They may find half a dozen in their files. They will pick up all of them who are not in prison and pin this murder on the guilty person. The others will have adequate alibis. "It must be obvious to you, of course, that though Miller's safe was rifled, robbery was not the real motive for the entrance; it was murder. It must also be obvious that no eighty-two-year-old man could have done this. If an eighty-two-year-old man engineered it, he hired some one. The man he hired, as I am showing you, left a broad trail. Find him and you will find the man behind him." He rose. "I am rather tired. I am not as young as I was. I'd better take a rest." "An eighty-two-year-old man? Are you suggesting, Professor--" began McCall. "I? I am suggesting nothing. It was you, Mr. McCall, who made the ugly suggestion, remember. "There is the mysterious number '14,' who, if he exists, is assuredly not less than eighty-two years old. Then, there is a several million dollar fund of which you told me. It was you, Mr. McCall, who made the ugly suggestion that such a sum was a tremendous temptation, both for men who have always been comparatively poor and for men who have had much and now have nothing. "I am merely giving you the results of my conclusions from facts as I found them. "Incidentally, this murderer, the man who killed Miller, is not very original. I remember a case in Germany in which a robber entered a house using just that means, a rope, a chimney and climbing irons. Yes, yes. It has all been done before. I did not need all the clues I found on the window and outside the house. The powder marks were enough. The killer was too hasty or too careless or too ignorant. He might not have known that there is an enormous difference between powder marks inflicted when the muzzle is two inches away and those inflicted when the muzzle of the weapon is twelve inches away. The powder marks alone, without any other factors, that slight difference of a few inches, might make the difference between life and death for the murderer."