"Humph," grunted the Coroner, and I was aware that every one in the room eyed me with suspicion. "Well," he continued, still looking at me severely, "can you tell us what the man died of?" "Yes," I answered; "he met his death by being stabbed to the heart by a very small weapon, possibly a stiletto, but a sharp knitting-needle, or even a hat pin, could have caused the wound. The crime was committed while he was unconscious, or at least semi-conscious, either from some drug or alcohol; or he may have been asleep. He made no resistance, and in all probability never knew he had been hurt." There was profound silence. "It is, then, impossible that this wound was self-inflicted," inquired the Coroner. "Quite impossible," I rejoined. "So that he was presumably murdered the night before last and smuggled into this apartment some time between six o'clock last evening and seven o'clock this morning?" continued the Coroner. Then, turning to the little red-headed manager, he asked: "Now, Mr. McGorry, how is it possible for this corpse to have been brought here? The foreman testifies that he himself locked the door in the presence of several workmen; you tell me that the key remained in your safe all night. Now, please explain how this body got here?" "Lord-a-mercy, sor, you don't think as I did it!" shrieked McGorry. "Why, sor, I never saw the man before in my life; besides, I have got a alibi, sor; yes, sor, a alibi." "Stop, Mr. McGorry; don't get so excited; nobody is accusing you of anything. But if this place was locked up last night, how came the body here this morning? The lock has not been tampered with. Was there a duplicate key?" "Yis, sor; but the other key was also in my safe," replied McGorry. "Have either of these keys ever been missing?" "Shure and they haven't been out of my keeping since the apartment was vacated last May, until three days ago when the painters begun work here. Since then they have had one of the keys during the day, but have always returned it before leaving." "Now, tell me," continued the Coroner, turning to the foreman, "has the key been missing since you had it?" "Not that I know of; we leave it sticking in the door all day, and only take it out when we leave." "So that it is possible that a person might have come to the door, taken the key, and kept it for some hours without your noticing it?" "Yes, sir, it's possible, but it aint likely; I haven't seen anyone pass since I've been working here." "Could the corpse have been brought in here any other way than through the front door?" "No, Mr. Coroner," a quiet voice at my side replied; "I have just examined the fire-escape and all the windows. The fastenings have not been tampered with, and the dust on the fire-escape shows no signs of recent disturbance." Mr. Merritt had gone on his search so unobtrusively that I had not noticed his absence till he reappeared, a good deal less immaculate than before.