"
"Then it was not a man," declared Floriani.
"What!"
"If the transom is too small to admit a man, it must have been a
child."
"A child!"
"Did you not say that your friend Henriette had a son?"
"Yes; a son named Raoul."
"Then, in all probability, it was Raoul who committed the theft."
"What proof have you of that?"
"What proof! Plenty of it....For instance---"
He stopped, and reflected for a moment, then continued:
"For instance, that gangway or bridge. It is improbable that the
child could have brought it in from outside the house and carried
it away again without being observed. He must have used something
close at hand. In the little room used by Henriette as a kitchen,
were there not some shelves against the wall on which she placed
her pans and dishes?"
"Two shelves, to the best of my memory."
"Are you sure that those shelves are really fastened to the wooden
brackets that support them? For, if they are not, we could be
justified in presuming that the child removed them, fastened them
together, and thus formed his bridge. Perhaps, also, since there
was a stove, we might find the bent poker that he used to open the
transom.
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