"It's simple
enough when you go about it the right way. I have already given you my
reasons for thinking the man who did this," pointing to the step, "to
be a mute. I judged that he was of small stature because he chose the
bottom step upon which to trace his word signs. Even an ordinary sized
man would have selected one higher up."
"All right," said Pendleton. "That looks good to me, so far."
"The deductions that he was well dressed and also near-sighted were
from the one source. His hat fell off while he was tracing the signs;
that showed me that he was forced to stoop very close to his work in
order to see what he was about. You see that, don't you?"
"How did you know his hat fell off?" asked Pendleton, incredulously.
"Mrs. Dwyer is evidently paid to clean only the hall and lower
stairway," replied Ashton-Kirk, composedly. "And that she sticks
closely to that arrangement is shown by the condition of this upper
flight. The dust upon the step is rather thick. If you will notice,"
and he indicated a place on the second step, "here is a spot where a
round, flat object rested. That this object was a silk hat is
positive. You can see the sharp impress of the nap in the dust; here
is the curl in the exact center of the crown as seen in silk hats
only.
Pages:
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159