"Well, Mr Kemball, as you seem to have been so intimately associated
with the closing scenes of poor Melvill Arnold's career, I will explain
the whole truth to you--even at the risk of a breach of professional
confidence. My client is dead, but the dastardly attempt upon Miss Asta
Seymour must be avenged--that man Harvey Shaw shall be brought to
justice. Listen, and I will tell you a story stranger than most men
have ever listened to--a romance of real life of which, however, every
word is the truth."
"The cylinder!" I cried. "Are you aware of what is contained in it?"
"I have not the slightest knowledge," he declared. "That we will
investigate together later--after you have heard the strange romance of
the man whom you knew as Melvill Arnold."