The Inspector picked up one of the silk hats. It bore on the rich satiny lining the chaste trademark of Browne Bros. Ripping out the lining and finding nothing beneath, he tried to tear out the leather sweat-band. It resisted his mightiest efforts. He borrowed Cronin’s pocket-knife and with difficulty slashed away the band. Then he looked up. “This hat, Romans and countrymen,” he said pleasantly, “contains nothing but the familiar ingredients of hat-wear. Would you care to examine it?” Cronin uttered a savage cry and snatched it from the Inspector’s hand. He literally tore the hat to pieces in his rage. “Heck!” he said disgustedly, throwing the remnants on the floor. “Explain that to my undeveloped brain, will you, Inspector?” Queen smiled, taking up the second silk hat and regarding it curiously. “You’re at a disadvantage, Tim,” he said. “We know why one of these hats is a blank. Don’t we, Ellery?” “Michaels,” murmured Ellery. “Exactly—Michaels,” returned the Inspector. “Charley Michaels!” exclaimed Cronin. “Field’s strong-arm guy, by all that’s holy! Where does he come into this?” “Can’t tell yet. Know anything about him?” “Nothing except that he hung onto Field’s coat-tails pretty closely. He’s an ex-jailbird, did you know that?” “Yes,” replied the Inspector dreamily. “We’ll have a talk about that phase of Mr. Michaels some other time.... But let me explain that hat: Michaels on the evening of the murder laid out, according to his statement, Field’s evening clothes, including a silk hat. Michaels swore that as far as he knew Field possessed only _one_ topper. Now if we suppose that Field used hats for concealing papers, and was going to the Roman Theatre that night wearing a ‘loaded’ one he must necessarily have substituted the loaded hat for the empty one which Michaels prepared. Since he was so careful to keep only one silk hat in the closet, he realized that Michaels, should he find a topper, would be suspicious. So, in switching hats, he had to conceal the empty one. What more natural than that he should put it in the place from which he had taken the loaded hat—the panel above the bed?” “Well, I’ll be switched!” exclaimed Cronin. “Finally,” resumed the Inspector, “we can take it as gospel that Field, who was devilishly careful in the matter of his headgear, intended to restore the theatre hat to its hideaway when he got home from the Roman. Then he would have taken out this one which you’ve just torn up and put it back in the clothes-closet.... But let’s get on.” He pulled down the leather inner-band of the second silk hat, which also bore the imprint of Browne Bros. “Look at this, will you!” he exclaimed. The two men bent over and saw on the inner surface of the band, lettered with painful clarity in a purplish ink, the words BENJAMIN MORGAN.