“The valet did so?” asked Clark.
“He did so right away.”
“He heard Townley slam the door, going out, and he went downstairs at once and put on the chain lock?”
“No. There was a spring lock on the door in addition to the chain lock. The chain lock was used as a measure of safety.”
“All right, that lets Townley out of it apparently. How about the valet?”
“That’s just the point,” said the detective. “There are several people who come under suspicion. There is Ed Kane, the secretary, Bob Drake, the valet, Edith Mace, the housekeeper, and Ellen Mace, her daughter. Also, if we are going to include everyone who was in the house that night, there is Sam Townley, the insurance man.”
“But Millright was alive when Townley left?” asked Clark.
“Apparently so. The valet is positive that he recognized Millright’s voice over the telephone. He didn’t go into the library after Millright had telephoned, but he is positive that it was Millright’s voice on the telephone. He said Millright told him that Townley was leaving and would let himself out, and for the valet to go down and lock the door, and that there was nothing else required for the evening.”
“No one heard the shot?” asked the criminologist.
“No one heard the shot. It was a small caliber gun, and the library is a massive room lined with books, and the doors are heavy.”
“Isn’t it rather unusual for a valet to sleep in a room directly over the front door?” asked Clark.
“I guess so,” said Bander, “but Millright was a bachelor who ran his house on peculiar lines. He’s a collector of stones and also of rare books. His whole house is really built about the library. That is, the house is centered in the library”
“I see,” said the criminologist. “Now, you mentioned that the clews pointed to the chauffeur?”
“Every clew points directly to the chauffeur,” said the detective. “In the first place, the gun that killed Millright had been bought by the chauffeur.”
“You’re sure of that?” asked the criminologist.
“Absolutely certain. We have traced the sale, and the man who made it identifies Dimmer as the man who bought the gun. In fact, while Dimmer tried to deny that it was his gun at first, he finally was forced to admit that he was lying.”
“That’s a suspicious circumstance,” said Clark.
“There are lots of suspicious circumstances,” said the detective, “and all of them point toward this man Dimmer. Not only did the gun belong to him, but his fingerprints and his fingerprints alone were on the gun. A suit of clothes belonging to the chauffeur was found in his room, and there are unmistakable blood spots on that suit of clothes. We have traced that suit of clothes, and there can be no question but that it was Dimmer’s suit. At the time of his death, in addition to the big gem, Millright was known to have had something over a thousand dollars in currency in his pocket. We found, or rather the police found, almost a thousand dollars, in the pocket of the blood-stained suit, and Dimmer can’t explain how it got there or account for having that much money in. his possession.”
“I take it,” said Clark, “that the police have arrested Dimmer.”
“Of course they arrested him,” said Bander. “The police thought they had a dead open and shut case until they got to checking on Dimmer’s alibi.”
“Well, how about the alibi?” said Clark.
“The murder,” said the detective, “took place on Thursday night, and Thursday night was Dimmer’s night off. Under his arrangement with Millright, Dimmer was to have Thursday night off, and also the privilege of using the car. It seems that Dimmer had a girl in Bridgeport, and he took the car to go and call on his girl. He didn’t get in until about three-thirty in the morning. The murder was committed not later than twelve-thirty, probably right around eleven-thirty.”
“And I take it Dimmer was in Bridgeport then?” asked Clark.
“He was in Bridgeport then. We find that he has an absolutely iron clad alibi. He took his girl and went to a dance. He was at the dance by eleven o’clock, and he stayed there until one-thirty in the morning. He was with his girl almost every minute of the time, and he was seen by no less than half a dozen reputable people who swear that there can be no mistake. What’s more, he was arrested for speeding on his way home at the hour of two-forty in the morning at a point fifty-five miles out of the city.”
“What else?” asked the criminologist. “Are there any other clews?”
“Yes, the person who committed the murder had made an attempt to let it appear that he entered and left by a window. The window had been pried open and the lock broken. However, the police have ascertained by the tool marks on the sash that the window was pried open from the inside rather than the outside. Moreover, the chisel that was used in prying open the window had a peculiar nick in the blade, and the police were able to identify the chisel which was used from that nick in the blade. It is a chisel that was in a kit of tools that was in the chauffeur’s room.”
“The chauffeur’s room was over the garage or in the rear of the house?” asked Clark.
“Both,” said the detective. “The garage is built into the house, and the chauffeur’s room is in the back, right over the garage.”
“How about the others?” asked Clark. “Can they give any alibis?”
“Not an alibi in the outfit,” said Bander. “Each one of them claims that they were in bed asleep at the time the murder must have happened.”
David Clark started drumming upon the edge of his desk with the tips of his fingers.
The detective watched him with an amused twinkle in his eyes, and said, “All right, Clark. Go ahead and pick out your one key clew in this case. You always claim that there’s one clew which is a key to the whole thing, that it’s bound to be in every case. Now what’s your key clew in this case?”
Clark did not turn toward the detective, but kept his face toward the window, his eyes fixed in an intense stare, his cameo-like features making his face seem as keen as the blade of a safety razor, his fingers drumming upon the desk.
Suddenly he chuckled. The chuckle became a low laugh. He turned to the detective, and the tension had relaxed from his face. There was a look of lazy good nature in his eyes.
“Of course there’s one key clew in this case,” he said, “and it’s so perfectly obvious that you can’t see it because it’s so big.”
“The gun?” asked the detective. Clark shook his head.
“The bloody clothes?”
Again Clark shook his head. “The money?”
Clark shook his head once more.
“Well,” said Bander, with some show of irritation, “it’s a case we’ve got to work fast on. The insurance on that gem amounts to a huge sum, and it’s got to be paid within thirty days unless the gem is recovered. Now, if you know so much about it, suppose you show me just how I can recover the gem?”
The look of lazy good nature left the face of the consulting criminologist, and his eyes once more became keen in their concentration, seeming to radiate rays of deep violet light.
“I’ve found the key clew,” he said, “and I know what happened. The difficult part is to prove it, and it’s going to take proof to make a recovery. Tell me, Bander, did this Clinkoff diamond have any particular blemish, and distinguishing marks?”
“No,” said the detective, “it’s a well-known diamond, however, from the manner in which it’s cut, and the color and size. It’s described in the insurance policy merely as the Clinkoff diamond.”
“You’re after the diamond, of course,” said the criminologist.
“Of course. But naturally, when I get the diamond I’ll have found the murderer, and so I’m cooperating with the police and the police are cooperating with me. We’re both working toward the same goal.”