"Of course. Donovan? I had my doubts from the start. Kent told a smooth
story. He had had to give Donovan the combination, and the safe had been
opened by combination. It was a tall man's safe, and Donovan was a tall
man. It fitted together perfectly, Joe--too perfectly. Remember when I
asked Kent to lead me to the door? I wanted to learn something--and I
learned it. Kent is a tall man, too. I might have asked you, but to a boy
all men seem tall."
"The maid's story was perfect, too," Joe said hesitatingly.
"Two perfect stories," Dr. Stone agreed. "It became a matter of picking
the true from the false, and Kent rang false from the start."
"I don't understand, Uncle David."
"Let's analyze it. When Kent came to the house Lady sneezed and drew
away. Two weeks ago I upset a bottle of bay rum; it ran into her eyes and
nose. She's been shy of bay rum since. When Kent said he'd lost his
lighter and asked for a match he reeked with bay rum and talcum. The maid
had awakened him at six o'clock, and he reached our house at eight. Two
striking facts, Joe. Does a man, finding his house robbed in the night,
calmly go upstairs and make a careful toilet? Does he wait two hours
before going to a telephone to call the police?
"Well, we went to his place. He wasn't home, and we wandered about the
grounds. That was pure luck. We found the wet suit. I asked you if there
was a pine tree on the place."
"Why, Uncle David?"
"Because that suit reeked with pine. We found that the tree was only six
feet from the house and heavy-branched, which meant that some of the
branches grew close to the house. And so now we had a robbery in the
rain, a pine tree, and a dripping suit of Harley Kent's that reeked with
pine. The facts were all unrelated, but I began to wonder if the tree had
played a part in the robbery.
"Then Kent came back, and his first thought was to look in the wet suit
for the missing lighter. When I mentioned the suit on the line he said
nothing to indicate alarm. But a blind man's ears are sharp. They are
quick to catch shades of sound in a voice. I knew he was disturbed
because we had chanced upon that suit. Now, why should he be upset? Wet
clothing is not uncommon after a wild rainstorm.
"We went to town for tobacco, and ran into Tom Bloodgood. That was
another stroke of luck. For Bloodgood told me Kent had called him to the
house to value a necklace. The jewelry market has fallen this last year,
and Tom gave Kent a valuation of about $15,000. The moment Bloodgood told
me that I thought I saw the picture.
"Kent's a market speculator. Evidently he had been hit and needed money.
Apparently he didn't want to have the necklace appraised in New York
where he was fairly well known--such things leak out and sometimes affect
a man's credit. After he learned what the necklace would bring in the
market he must have done some thinking. If he sold it, he'd realize
$15,000. If it were stolen he'd collect $25,000 from the insurance
company. The reason he had shaved and waited two hours to call the police
took on significance. It began to look as though Kent had staged a
convenient robbery. Collect for the jewels and still have them. Later he
might break up the necklace and sell the pearls separately. It's been
done before."
"Why didn't you tell Captain Tucker, Uncle David?"
"Oh, no. Tucker would have immediately searched the tree, and Kent could
have got the incriminating suit out of the way and made the charge that
Donovan had hidden the necklace in the pine. There was only one way.
Scare Kent. Send him out into the tree in a panic. And then catch him in
the act.
"So tonight we called upon Kent. I was searching for a way to alarm him,
and he opened the door himself by mentioning birds. The moment I spoke of
a search of a tree he froze. After that it was merely a matter of waiting
for him to come forth to remove the proof of his guilt."
They were almost at Joe's house. The boy turned a puzzled thought in his
mind.
"But, Uncle David----"
"Yes."
"Even if there was pine on his coat it wouldn't be proof he'd been in a
pine tree."
"True," Dr. Stone agreed. "That's what sent me searching for the absolute
proof."