"This is no joke, Mr. Kennedy," protested Manton, in indignation. "Where can I hire about a dozen good men to hang around and watch—and—and help you get to the bottom of this?"
Mackay, without releasing his grasp of the film, had been inspecting the broken lock.
"Look at the way this was done!" he murmured, almost in admiration.
"This wasn't the work of any roughneck. It—it was a dainty job!"
XXVII
THE FILM FIRE
The bag lay open at my feet. The microscope and other paraphernalia brought by Kennedy were untouched. Taking the film from Mackay and placing the can in with the other things, Kennedy snapped the catch and turned to me as he straightened.
"I think our evidence is safest in plain sight, Walter. We'll carry it about with us."
Lloyd Manton seemed to be a genuinely unhappy individual. After some moments he excused himself, nervously anxious about the turn of affairs at the studio. Immediately I faced Kennedy and Mackay.
"Manton's the only one who knew just where we put the bag," I remarked. "When he left us in the basement he had plenty of time to run up and steal the towel and return."
"How about the itching salve?"