"
Everybody now turned to the count, who was thus obliged, quite
unwillingly, to narrate all the circumstances connected with the
theft. The chevalier listened, reflected, asked a few questions,
and said:
"It is very strange....at first sight, the problem appears to be a
very simple one."
The count shrugged his shoulders. The others drew closer to the
chevalier, who continued, in a dogmatic tone:
"As a general rule, in order to find the author of a crime or a
theft, it is necessary to determine how that crime or theft was
committed, or, at least, how it could have been committed. In the
present case, nothing is more simple, because we are face to face,
not with several theories, but with one positive fact, that is to
say: the thief could only enter by the chamber door or the window
of the cabinet. Now, a person cannot open a bolted door from the
outside. Therefore, he must have entered through the window."
"But it was closed and fastened, and we found it fastened
afterward," declared the count.
"In order to do that," continued Floriani, without heeding the
interruption, "he had simply to construct a bridge, a plank or a
ladder, between the balcony of the kitchen and the ledge of the
window, and as the jewel-case---"
"But I repeat that the window was fastened," exclaimed the count,
impatiently.
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