Suspense by Isabel Ostrander

"You see the murder of Breckinridge was an unexpected complication in the plans of the gang," McCormick explained, when the girl's first intense horror at the knowledge of the slayer's identity had been partially overcome. "They had never before gone so far as to take life. Breckinridge had the reputation of being pretty swift and he's been mixed up in more than one scandal. He must have been meat for the Atterbury gang until he revolted, but he made a big mistake then. Instead of going to the police and braving a public inquiry, or coming to me, he chose to play a lone hand against the blackmailers, and lost. He traced the ringleaders to the Atterbury house and attempted to confront them single-handed. How he managed to elude the watchdog isn't known, but he got in through a dining-room window which Welch had left unfastened. It was only after the murder that the crook who played butler was so careful to lock up the house at night.

"Breckinridge had unfortunately taken a bracer or two before he started on his foolhardy expedition and when he found himself face to face with Wolvert he let his feelings get the better of him and in his resentment blustered out how much he knew against the gang. If he had only realized it he was confirming his own death-warrant, for he had found out too much to go free. Wolvert didn't wait to consult the head of the gang, Mrs. Atterbury, but seized a knife from the sideboard and a fight for life began. It must have been a silent one and quickly over, for no one heard it except Welch who slept on the ground floor at the back. He arrived on the scene in time to see Wolvert plunge the knife in Breckinridge's breast.