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Page 59
"If you are going to assume anything, Walter, why not assume he
was the second man, the man who watched the actual intruder?"
I turned away, despairing of my ability to convince Kennedy. As a
matter of fact I had forgotten the other prowler at Tarrytown.
Then I noticed that the one guinea pig in the separate cage was
dead. In an instant I was all curiosity to know the results of
Kennedy's investigations.
"Did you make any progress?" I asked.
"Yes!" Now I noticed for the first time that he was in fine
humor. "I had quite finished the first stage of my analysis when
you came in."
"Then what was it? What was the poison that killed Stella Lamar?"
I glanced at the stiff, prone figure of the little animal.
Kennedy cleared his throat. "Well," he replied, "I began the
study with the discovery I made, which I told you, that strange
proteins were present." He picked up the ampulla and regarded it
thoughtfully. Then he fingered the bit of silk cut from the
portieres. "It is a poison more deadly, more subtle, than any
ever concocted by man, Walter."
"Yes?" I was painfully eager.
"It is snake venom!"
XVI
ENID ASSISTS
"A poison more subtle than any concocted by man!" repeated
Kennedy.
It was a startling declaration and left me quite speechless for
the moment.
"We know next to nothing of the composition of the protein bodies
in the snake venoms which have such terrific and quick
physiological effects on man," Kennedy went on. "They have been
studied, it is true, and studied a great deal, but we cannot say
that there are any adequate tests by which the presence of these
proteins can be recognized.
"However, everything points to the conclusion now that it was
snake venom, and my physiological tests on the guinea pig seem to
confirm it. I see no reason now to doubt that it was snake venom.
The fact of the matter is that the snake venoms are about the
safest of poisons for the criminal to use, for the reason of the
difficulty they give in any chemical analysis. That is only
another proof of the diabolical cleverness of our guilty person,
whoever it may be.
"Later I'll identify the particular kind of venom used. Just now
I feel it is more important to discover the actual motive for the
crime. In the morning I have a plan which may save me further
work here in the laboratory, but for to-night I feel I have
earned a rest and"--a smile--"I shall rest by searching out the
motives of these temperamental movie folk a little more." As he
spoke he slipped out of his acid-stained smock.
"What do you mean?" As often, he rather baffled me.
"It's nearly dinner time and we're going out together, Walter,
down to Jacques'."
"Why Jacques'?"
"Because I phoned your friend Belle Balcom and she informed me
that that was the place where we would be apt to find the elite
of the film world dining."
I acquiesced, of course. We hurried to the apartment first for a
few necessary changes and preparations, then we started for the
Times Square section in a taxi.
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