"What have I to lose?" he had asked the inquirer. "A lot of old
lumber which I have accumulated during many years, and a
reputation for being wealthy, due to my lonely habits and to the
ignorance of those who live around me."
Durham, mentally reviewing the words of the report, reconstructed
the scene in his mind; and now, having come to the end of the
lane where the iron post rested, he stood staring up at a place
in the ancient wall where several bricks had decayed, and where
it was possible, according to the statement of the man Poland, to
climb up on to a piece of sloping roof, and thence gain the
skylight through which Cohen had obtained admittance on the night
of his death.
He made sure that his automatic pistol was in his pocket,
questioned the dull sounds of the riverside for a moment, looking
about him anxiously, and then, using the leaning post as a
stepping-stone, he succeeded in wedging his foot into a crevice
in the wall. By the exercise of some agility he scrambled up to
the top, and presently found himself lying upon a sloping roof.
The skylight remained well out of reach, but his rubber-soled
shoes enabled him to creep up the slates until he could grasp the
framework with his hands.
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