Patsy gave him stare for stare. “Keep him covered, Draper,” said the physician, with ominous quietude. “So you’re a thief, are you?” “What’s the use of denying it?” asked Patsy. “I’ve told that gink with a gun that----” “Never mind what you told him,” Guelpa interrupted, more sharply. “Shoot him instantly, Draper, if he stirs. We can say we caught him committing a robbery.” “That’s what I told him,” grinned Draper. “Very likely he’s the scamp who stole Falloni’s diamonds,” added Guelpa, more sharply watching Patsy’s face. It underwent no change evincing his identity and designs. “I’d be a fall guy, for fair, if I came in here after getting away with that batch of jewels,” he said derisively. “Keep him covered, Draper,” Guelpa repeated. “I’ll find out who he is.” He came nearer to Patsy, then suddenly seized one side of his mustache and jerked it from his lip. Patsy uttered an involuntary cry of pain. Guelpa gazed at him more sharply, with countenance turning as dark as a thundercloud, while his teeth met with a sudden, sharp snap. “Ah, I see!” he exclaimed, half in his throat. “You’re one of those detectives whom I saw this morning. You’re that fellow Garvan.” Patsy realized that he had nothing to gain by denying it. He laughed indifferently and replied: “I guess that calls the turn, doctor.” “I know it does, not guess it,” snapped Guelpa. “What do you want here?” “I wanted to see you.” “For what?” “To find out whether you have learned anything more about the robbery, or whether you have any suspicion.” “Did Nick Carter send you?” “No. I came on my own hook.” “You lie, you whelp,” Guelpa now said harshly. “You act only under his instructions. There can be only one reason for your coming here and breaking into my apartments. Carter thinks I know something about the robbery, or suspects me of having committed it. Isn’t that right?” “Right for him to suspect you?” asked Patsy, undaunted by the blaze that had arisen in the physician’s eyes. “Don’t josh me, Garvan, nor try to evade me,” Guelpa fiercely threatened. “If you do, I’ll have your infernal life. Tell me--does Carter think I committed that robbery?” “How can I tell?” retorted Patsy defiantly. “I’m not a mind reader.” “You know what he suspects.” “No, I don’t,” Patsy insisted. “There is one thing I do know, however.” “What is that?” “That if he suspects you, Doctor Guelpa, he never so much as mentioned it to me.” “Is that true?” “True as gospel,” said Patsy; and it was. Doctor Guelpa hesitated for a moment, while Draper put in with an assurance evincing his relations with the other: “Don’t swallow that, doc, not on your life. It’s all bunk. He would not be here, not sneaking in as I caught him, if Carter had not sent him.” “Do you think so?” “I think it’s a cinch.”