Shaking a cascade of water from the brim of his neat bowler, he set off through the murk towards the spot from whence the cries of the spaniel seemed to proceed.  A few paces brought him to the door of a dirty little shop.  In a window close beside it appeared the legend: 

    Sam Tuk
    barber.

The spaniel crouched by the door whining and scratching, and as Kerry came up it raised its beady black eyes to him with a look which, while it was not unfearful, held an unmistakable appeal.  Kerry stood watching the dog for a moment, and as he watched he became conscious of an exhilarated pulse.

He tried the door and found it to be open.  Thereupon he entered a dirty little shop, which he remembered to have searched in person in the grey dawn of the day which now was entering upon a premature dusk.  The dog ran in past him, crossed the gloomy shop, and raced down into a tiny coal cellar, which likewise had been submitted during the early hours of the morning to careful scrutiny under the directions of the Chief Inspector.

A Chinese boy, who had been the only occupant of the place on that occasion and who had given his name as Ah Fung, was surprised by the sudden entrance of man and dog in the act of spreading coal dust with his fingers upon a portion of the paved floor.  He came to his feet with a leap and confronted Kerry.  The spaniel began to scratch feverishly upon the spot where the coal dust had been artificially spread.  Kerry’s eyes gleamed like steel.  He shot out his hand and grasped the Chinaman by his long hair.  “Open that trap,” he said, “or I’ll break you in half!”

Ah Fung’s oblique eyes regarded him with an expression difficult to analyze, but partly it was murder.  He made no attempt to obey the order.  Meanwhile the dog, whining and scratching furiously, had exposed the greater part of a stone slab somewhat larger than those adjoining it, and having a large crack or fissure in one end.

“For the last time,” said Kerry, drawing the man’s head back so that his breath began to whistle through his nostrils, “open that trap.”

As he spoke he released Ah Fung, and Ah Fung made one wild leap towards the stairs.  Kerry’s fist caught him behind the ear as he sprang, and he went down like a dead man upon a small heap of coal which filled the angle of the cellar.

Breathing rapidly and having his teeth so tightly clenched that his maxillary muscles protruded lumpishly, Kerry stood looking at the fallen man.  But Ah Fung did not move.  The dog had ceased to scratch, and now stood uttering short staccato barks and looking up at the Chief Inspector.  Otherwise there was no sound in the house, above or below.

Kerry stooped, and with his handkerchief scrupulously dusted the stone slab.  The spaniel, resentment forgotten, danced excitedly beside him and barked continuously.

“There’s some sort of hook to fit in that crack,” muttered Kerry.