The commissioner was bending over the lawyer, trying to adjust the stethoscope better to his ears.  The lawyer’s head was resting heavily on his hand, and he was heaped up in an awkward position in the cramped lecture-room seat.  It seemed an age as Dr. Leslie tried to adjust the stethoscope.  Even Craig felt the excitement.  While the commissioner hesitated, Kennedy reached over and impatiently switched on the electric light in full force.

As the light flooded the room, blinding us for the instant, the large form of Dr. Leslie stood between us and the lawyer.

“What does the stethoscope tell you, Doctor?” asked Craig, leaning forward expectantly.  He was as unprepared for the answer as any of us.

“It tells me that a higher court than those of New York has passed judgment on this astounding criminal.  The aneurism has burst.”

I felt a soft weight fall on my shoulder.  The Morning Star did not have the story, after all.  I missed the greatest “scoop” of my life seeing Eveline Bisbee safely to her home after she had recovered from the shock of Denny’s exposure and punishment.

IV.  The Deadly Tube

“For Heaven’s sake, Gregory, what is the matter?” asked Craig Kennedy as a tall, nervous man stalked into our apartment one evening.  “Jameson, shake hands with Dr. Gregory.  What’s the matter, Doctor?  Surely your X-ray work hasn’t knocked you out like this?”

The doctor shook hands with me mechanically.  His hand was icy.  “The blow has fallen,” he exclaimed, as he sank limply into a chair and tossed an evening paper over to Kennedy.

In red ink on the first page, in the little square headed “Latest News,” Kennedy read the caption, “Society Woman Crippled for Life by X-Ray Treatment.”

“A terrible tragedy was revealed in the suit begun today,” continued the article, “by Mrs. Huntington Close against Dr. James Gregory, an X-ray specialist with offices at Madison Avenue, to recover damages for injuries which Mrs. Close alleges she received while under his care.  Several months ago she began a course of X-ray treatment to remove a birthmark on her neck.  In her complaint Mrs. Close alleges that Dr. Gregory has carelessly caused X-ray dermatitis, a skin disease of cancerous nature, and that she has also been rendered a nervous wreck through the effects of the rays.  Simultaneously with filing the suit she left home and entered a private hospital.  Mrs. Close is one of the most popular hostesses in the smart set, and her loss will be keenly felt.”

“What am I to do, Kennedy?” asked the doctor imploringly.  “You remember I told you the other day about this case—­that there was something queer about it, that after a few treatments I was afraid to carry on any more and refused to do so?  She really has dermatitis and nervous prostration, exactly as she alleges in her complaint.  But, before Heaven, Kennedy, I can’t see how she could possibly have been so affected by the few treatments I gave her.  And to-night, just as I was leaving the office, I received a telephone call from her husband’s attorney, Lawrence, very kindly informing me that the case would be pushed to the limit.  I tell you, it looks black for me.”