"Chester--don't!" cried Inez in alarm, too late. "He'll--kill
you!"
The excitement had been too much for her. She reeled, fainting,
and I caught her.
Before I could restore the davenport to something like its
original condition so that we could take care of her, the first
onslaught was over.
Three guns were sticking their blue noses into the darkness of the
next room.
"Hands up!" shouted Craig, "Drop your gun! Let me hear it fall!"
There followed a thud and Kennedy, followed by Lockwood and the
officer entered.
As they fumbled to strike a light, I managed to open a window and
let in some fresh air, while the Senora, for once human, loosened
the throat of Inez' dress and fanned her.
Through the open door, now, I could hear what was going on in the
next room, but could not see.
"It was you, Lockwood," I heard a familiar voice accusing, "who
was in the Museum the night the dagger disappeared."
"Yes," replied Lockwood, a bit disdainfully. "I suspected
something crooked about that dagger. I thought that if I made a
copy of the inscription on the blade, I might decipher it myself,
or get some one to do it for me. I went in and, when a chance
came, I hid in the sarcophagus.
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