Page:Burton Stevenson--The marathon mystery.djvu/90

70 he had returned from the inner room. At the time, he had thought the collapse natural enough. Now, it took on a new meaning.

“There’s another thing,” continued Simmonds, after a moment. “Here’s the piece of pipe we found on the floor. Do you know where it came from?”

“No—I was going to look that up.”

“It came from the radiator. The connections were defective and a plumber was replacing them. This is a piece of pipe he had removed and left lying behind the radiator. He remembers it distinctly. Do you recall the position of the radiator?”

“Yes; it’s against the wall opposite the bedroom door.”

“Exactly. Then the person coming from that door must have crossed the room to get it. More than that, he must have hunted for it or known it was there, because it was in the shadow behind the radiator. It couldn’t be seen unless one looked for it—I’ve tried it.”

Godfrey paused to consider.

“Did you give these points to Goldberg?” he asked.

“No; I didn’t think it would help matters any; besides, I didn’t want to put Miss Croydon on her guard.”

“Of course—though all this doesn’t actually implicate her.”

“No; but it shows she knows more than she’s told us,” said Simmonds doggedly. “I don’t think she’s been square with us.”

Godfrey did not permit any trace of his inward perturbation to appear on his countenance; nevertheless