Joe saw that it was Tom Bloodgood, the jeweler. They waited, and Lady sat
down on her haunches, watchful and alert.
"Heard about the robbery out your way, Doctor?"
"Yes."
"That's something I'd never expect to happen. I can't understand how a
burglar could have got across that room without waking the dead. The way
that floor creaked----"
"Kent says the storm drowned all other noise." The doctor's mouth had
grown hard at the corners. "I didn't know you and Kent were on visiting
terms."
"We're not."
"But if you knew about those floor boards----"
"Oh! That was a business call--the only time I was in the house. He sent
for me last Wednesday----"
The voice stopped, and Joe found the jeweler's eyes resting on him
meaningly. Flushing, the boy took himself out of earshot and pretended to
be absorbed in a store window. Presently his uncle called to him, and
they went down the street to Stevenson's shop, and Joe saw that the tight
lines around the man's mouth had showed much deeper.
Back on the street the blind man was silent, and walked with quick steps
beside the dog. Half way home a cloud of dust rode toward them, and
Captain Tucker's car came out of the dust. The car stopped.
"So you didn't arrest Donovan," said the doctor.
The police officer leaned across the wheel. "Joe must have told you he's
not in the car."
"Nobody had to tell me," Dr. Stone said mildly. "Captain Tucker, with a
jewel thief in charge, would not be likely to stop for a chat with a
friend. You didn't arrest Donovan?"
"N--no. Even though you're reasonably sure a man's guilty, you can't
arrest him for robbery unless you have at least some proof. There is no
proof--there's nothing. And he has an alibi. He and the maid have their
rooms in the same wing of the house. She says she couldn't sleep last
night, and sat up and read with her door partly open. She insists Donovan
couldn't pass that door without being seen or heard. If the maid's
telling the truth, Donovan couldn't be the thief; if she isn't telling
the truth, they're both in it. Anyway, if we do arrest Donovan, what
about the necklace? If possible we want to recover that."
"But you think Donovan did it?"
"Well, Doctor, let's give it a look. She admits she never sat up all
night reading before. She can't recollect ever leaving her door open
before. Now, why did both those things have to happen last night when the
safe was robbed?"
"It sounds rather convenient," Dr. Stone said.
"Too convenient. Too perfect. My idea is that Donovan did the job and the
maid is hiding him. I can figure it all out, but I can't pin it on them.
That girl's too slick for me. I'm going to call in State troopers. Maybe
they'll be able to break down her story."
The car was gone with a whine of gears, and Joe stretched his legs and
followed his uncle and the dog. Harley Kent's car stood in the driveway.
"We're at the Kent place, Uncle David."
"I know."
"Are we going in?"
"Sometimes," the doctor said cryptically, "it is best to leave a plum
hang until it falls." The cane made a brisk gesture. "Tonight, Joe."
To the boy the night was a long way off. A crime had been committed in
the neighborhood, almost under their noses, and the scene of the crime
drew him with an excited, morbid curiosity. Late in the afternoon he
walked back to the Kent place and loitered outside the hedge. He was
there when a car drove in and two State troopers got out. Lean and trim
in their belted uniforms, they looked competent and formidable; and his
eyes, fascinated, clung to the bulges at their hips. An hour later they
came out of the house, and Donovan was with them. The chauffeur was still
with them when the car rolled away.