“Lucky indeed!” I said. “Thank God you're here. This pigtail is a
nightmare which threatens to drive me mad!”
The detective advanced and knelt beside the crumpled-up figure on the
ground. He examined it briefly, and then stood up.
“The fact that he had the missing pigtail in his pocket,” he said, “is
proof enough to my mind that he did the murder.”
“And to mine.”
“There's another point,” he added, “which throws a lot of light on the
matter. You and Mr. Harley were out of town at the time of the Huang
Chow case; but the Chief and I outlined it, you remember, one night in
Mr. Harley's rooms?”
“I remember it perfectly; the giant spider in the coffin------”
“Yes; and a certain Ah Fu, confidential servant of the old man, who used
to buy the birds the thing fed on. Well, Mr. Knox, Huang Chow was the
biggest dealer in illicit stuff in all the East End--and this battered
thing at our feet is--Ah Fu!”
“Huang Chow's servant?”
“Exactly!”