"The phone woke me around ten the next morning. It was Ruhl, calling from a gas station on the highway. He said Hays wasn't back yet and promised to call again at five. "I mulled the whole thing over all day, trying to sort out the facts, but they just wouldn't add up to anything. When Ruhl called again with the same bad news, I decided to come on east and get it off my chest. It's all beyond me. I don't know what to do." * * * * * Donner searched in his pockets and pulled out a cigarette pack. It was empty and he crumpled it absently. Halleck patted his own pockets but couldn't find any. "Now take it easy, Ray," said Caples, walking around the desk with the humidor and holding it open. "This is the weirdest thing I've ever heard--yet I think I believe you. Leave it to you solid types to foul up on a grand scale! How about this witness you mentioned?" "On the train--I wanted more time to think, so I didn't fly here--it occurred to me how flimsy this would all sound, without your memo or anything else to back it up. I couldn't even prove the tablets ever existed. In Chicago, I phoned Nalja Kane. She was much better and quite calm. When I told her the spot I was in, she agreed to take a plane in the morning and try to be here at 11:30 today." Taplin's finger darted to the key panel, but Caples brushed him aside and opened the circuit himself. "This is Mr. Caples. Is there a lady in the outer office?" "Yes, sir. Mrs. Simon Kane." "Ask her to step in, please." The four men rose before the door opened--Donner, slowly, with great weariness. She stood a moment, looking from one face to another, cool and regal in summer white with a small flowered hat. Faint purple circles gave her black eyes a brilliance. Raymond Donner took her hand and led her to a chair. "Thank you for coming, Mrs. Kane. May I present Mr. Caples and Mr. Halleck, my superiors--and Mr. Taplin." When they were seated, she spoke first in her low, passionate voice, without waiting for questions. "I will tell you what I know of Simon Kane, gentlemen, though it may be less than you would expect from a wife. In return, I ask you to use all your influence to find him and bring him to justice. He is a monster and a murderer!" "You have my word on it, Mrs. Kane," said Caples, "if you can supply the evidence that crimes have been committed. Taplin--the recorder. Move it closer." As she began to speak, an occasional small break in her voice hinted at the emotional turbulence the girl was holding in tight rein. * * * * *