 confronted with the telegram had
not been impressive. He had opened his eyes widely, and had exclaimed
»Impossible!« exposing himself thereby to the unanswerable retort of a
finger-tip laid forcibly on the telegram which the Assistant Commissioner, after
reading it aloud, had flung on the desk. To be crushed, as it were, under the
tip of a forefinger was an unpleasant experience. Very damaging, too!
Furthermore, Chief Inspector Heat was conscious of not having mended matters by
allowing himself to express a conviction.
    »One thing I can tell you at once: none of our lot had anything to do with
this.«
    He was strong in his integrity of a good detective, but he saw now that an
impenetrably attentive reserve towards this incident would have served his
reputation better. On the other hand, he admitted to himself that it was
difficult to preserve one's reputation if rank outsiders were going to take a
hand in the business. Outsiders are the bane of the police as of other
professions. The tone of the Assistant Commissioner's remarks had been sour
enough to set one's teeth on edge.
    And since breakfast Chief Inspector Heat had not managed to get anything to
eat.
    Starting immediately to begin his investigation on the spot, he had
swallowed a good deal of raw, unwholesome fog in the park. Then he had walked
over to the hospital; and when the investigation in Greenwich was concluded at
last he had lost his inclination for food. Not accustomed, as the doctors are,
to examine closely the mangled remains of human beings, he had been shocked by
the sight disclosed to his view when a waterproof sheet had been lifted off a
table in a certain apartment of the hospital.
    Another waterproof sheet was spread over that table in the manner of a
tablecloth, with the corners turned up over a sort of mound - a heap of rags,
scorched and bloodstained, half concealing what might have been an accumulation
of raw material for a cannibal feast. It required considerable firmness of mind
not to recoil before that sight. Chief Inspector Heat, an efficient officer of
his department, stood his ground, but for a whole minute he did not advance. A
local constable in uniform cast a sidelong glance, and said with stolid
simplicity:
    »He's all there. Every bit of him. It was a job.«
    He had been the first man on the spot after the explosion. He mentioned the
fact again. He had seen something like a heavy flash of lightning in the fog. At
that time he was standing at the door of the King
