The fellow was an American."
"I remember it quite well," I assented. "He was tried for murder and
convicted of manslaughter."
Mr. Bundercombe nodded.
"He was released this afternoon. He'll be here in a few minutes."
"Here!" I exclaimed.
Mr. Bundercombe nodded but did not offer any further explanation. Coupled
with a certain gravity of expression he had the appearance of a schoolboy
for whom a feast was being set out. "Quite a pleasant little evening we
are going to have!" he promised. "You wait!"
I frowned a little uneasily.
"You are quite sure you're not letting me in for--"
Mr. Bundercombe plunged into the middle of my little protest.
"You're all right, Paul!" he assured me. "Cullen's in the house at the
present moment and there are two other detectives with him. They are
letting me run this thing simply because I know more about it than they
do; and for certain reasons I'm not giving my whole hand away. Don't you
worry, Paul! You'll be all right this time. Listen!"
We heard a very feeble ring at the bell. Mr. Bundercombe nodded.
"That's Stanley," he whispered. "Sit down!"
A man was shown into the room a moment later. I leaned forward in my chair
so as to see more distinctly the hero of one of the most famous cases that
had ever been tried in a criminal court.
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