in the position indicated by Parker—it would stand in a direct line between the

door and the window.”

 

“The window!” I said quickly.

 

“You, too, have my first idea. I imagined that the chair was drawn out so that

something connected with the window should not be seen by any one entering

through the door. But I soon abandoned that supposition, for though the chair

was a grandfather with a high back, it obscured very little of the window—only

the part between the sash and the ground. No, _mon ami_—but remember that just

in front of the window there stood a table with books and magazines upon it. Now

that table _was_ completely hidden by the drawn-out chair—and immediately I had

my first shadowy suspicion of the truth.

 

“Supposing that there had been something on that table not intended to be seen?

Something placed there by the murderer? As yet I had no inkling of what that

something might be. But I knew certain very interesting facts about it. For

instance, it was something that the murderer had not been able to take away with

him at the time that he committed the crime. At the same time it was vital that

it should be removed as soon as possible after the crime had been discovered.

And so—the telephone message, and the opportunity for the murderer to be on the

spot when the body was discovered.

 

“Now four people were on the scene before the police arrived. Yourself, Parker,

Major Blunt, and Mr. Raymond. Parker I eliminated at once, since at whatever