But Dundee's flashlight played upon the beveled
edges of both the short board and the two neighboring planks between
which it was fitted. The pivoting arrangement was of the simplest, the
small nickel-plated pieces being set into the short board and the other
two planks with small screws which did not pierce the painted outside
surface.
His curiosity satisfied, Dundee stepped out of the closet into the tiny
foyer. He was about to leave when a terrific truth crashed through his
mind and froze his feet to the floor.
_Of course the gun and silencer were not there!_
This was the _guest closet_! In it had hung the hat of every person who
had been Nita's guest, either for bridge or cocktails, that fatal
Saturday afternoon!
_And to this closet, to retrieve hat, stick or--in the case of the
women, summer coat and hat--had come every person who had been
questioned and then searched by the police._
Dundee tried to recapture the picture of the stampede which had followed
upon his permission for all guests to go to their homes. But it was
useless. He had stayed in the living room with Strawn, had taken not the
slightest interest in the scramble for hats, coats and sticks. For
Strawn had previously assured him that the guest closet had been
thoroughly searched.
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