But now--
A little dashed, Dundee returned to the bedroom. The big lamp was where
he had first seen it--about a foot beyond the window nearest the porch,
and at the head of the chaise longue which was set between the two west
windows, where, according to Lydia, the lamp always stood. The too-long
cord lay slackly along the floor near the west wall, and extended to the
double outlet on the baseboard behind the bookcase.... _A slack cord!_
Down on his hands and knees Dundee went, to peer under the low bottom
shelf of the bookcase.... Yes! The pronged plug of the lamp cord had
been jerked almost out of the baseboard outlet! It was easy to visualize
what had happened: The murderer, after firing the shot, had
involuntarily taken a step or even several steps backward, until his
foot had caught in the loop of electric cord, causing the big lamp to be
thrown violently against the wall near which it stood.... But who?
_Any one of half a dozen people!_ But--_who_?
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Having ticketed the big bronze lamp, which he had brought with him from
the Selim house, and locked it away in the room devoted to "exhibits for
the state," Bonnie Dundee hurried into Penny's office, primed with the
news of his discovery of the secret hiding place and eager to lay his
new theory before the district attorney.
Pages:
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244