On the other hand, the theory of interior inaccessibility had a flaw in it, due to the presence of five different people in the room before the police arrived. Their actions and motives would have to be most carefully weighed and sifted before the implication of the discovery of the finger-marks could be determined.
The rather breathless entrance of Inspector Dawfield put an end to Barrant’s reflections. He explained that Sergeant Pengowan, in his anxiety to maintain the correctness of his official report, had taken him to various breakneck positions at the back of the house and along the cliffs in order to demonstrate the impossibility of anybody entering Robert Turold’s rooms from outside. The sergeant was at that moment engaged in a room downstairs drawing up his reasons for that belief. “A kind of confirmatory report,” Dawfield explained. “He fears that his reputation is at stake.”
“He can save himself the trouble,” said Barrant. “The solution of Robert Turold’s death lies in these two rooms, if anywhere.”
Something in his companion’s tone caused Inspector Dawfield to direct an interrogative glance at him. “Have you discovered something?” he asked.
“Finger-marks on the left arm, a left-hand impression, I should say.”
He drew back the loose sleeve of the dead man, and Dawfield examined the marks attentively. “This is strange,” he said. “It looks suspicious.”
“Strange enough, and certainly suspicious. The point is, is it suspicious enough to upset the theory of suicide? The marks are too faint to enable us to determine whether they are of recent origin. But I think that we must assume that they are. It has occurred to me that they may have been caused when the body was picked up from the floor of the other room and carried in here.”
“In that case the marks would have been underneath the arm. In lifting a heavy weight like a corpse it would be natural to place the hands under the shoulders, for greater lifting power.”
“There’s something in that, but it’s by no means certain. It would depend on the position of the body. According to Pengowan’s report, Robert Turold was found lying face downward. The body would have to be turned over before it was lifted, and the grip might have been made in pulling it over. We must find that out.”
“It’s a point which can be settled at once by questioning Thalassa. He helped Pengowan carry the body into this room.”