We have to deal with a most ingenious and capable man." I was fain to laugh at his enthusiastic appreciation of the methods of his would-be assassin, and the humour of the situation then appeared to dawn on him, for he said, with an apologetic smile-- "I am not expressing approval, you must understand, but merely professional admiration.

It is this class of criminal that creates the necessity for my services.

He is my patron, so to speak; my ultimate employer.

For the common crook can be dealt with quite efficiently by the common policeman!" While he was speaking he had been fitting the little cylinder between two pads of tissue-paper in the vice, which he now screwed up tight.
Then, with the fine metal saw, he began to cut the projectile, lengthwise, into two slightly unequal parts.

This operation took some time, especially since he was careful not to cut the loose body inside, but at length the section was completed and the interior of the cylinder exposed, when he released it from the vice and held it up before me with an expression of triumph.
"Now, what do you make it ?" he demanded.
I took the object in my fingers and looked at it closely, but was at first more puzzled than before.