But of course I shall have to perform
an autopsy first----"
Dundee crossed the room, stepping over the dead man's stick--a swank
affair of dark, polished wood, with a heavy knob of carved onyx, which
lay about a foot beyond the reach of the curled fingers of the stiff
right hand.
"Sprague's hat?" he asked, pointing to a brightly banded straw which lay
upon the top of the cabinet.
"Yes," Strawn answered. "And did you notice the window screen?"
He pointed to the window in front of which the body lay. The sash of
leaded panes was raised as high as it would go, and beneath it was a
screen of the roller-curtain type, raised about six inches from the
window sill. A pair of curved, nickel-plated catches in the center of
the inch-wide metal band on the bottom of the coppernet curtain showed
how the screen was raised or lowered.
Dundee nodded, frowning, and Strawn began eagerly:
"You'll have to admit I was right now, boy. You've sneered at my gunman
theory and tried to pin Nita's murder on one of Hamilton's finest bunch
of people, but you'll have to admit now that every detail of this set-up
bears me out."
"Yes?"
"Sure. This is the way I figure it out: Sprague has good reason to be
afraid he's next on the program. He's nervous.
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