“Somebody might have left it there. One usually buys the dog first and then the whip.”
“Yes, sir. But there wasn’t anybody here to forget it. The Professor did not receive any visits at that time.”
“Why are you so sure of that?”
“Because it was the middle of summer, and everybody was away.”
“Oh, then, we won’t bother about the whip. Can you tell me of any ladies with whom the Professor was acquainted?”
“Ladies? I don’t know of any. Of course, the Professor was invited out a good deal, and most of the other gentlemen from the college were married.”
“Did he ever receive letters from ladies?” continued Muller.
Johann thought the matter over, then confessed that he knew very little about writing and couldn’t read handwriting very well anyway. But he remembered to have seen a letter now and then, a little letter with a fine and delicate handwriting.
“Have you any of these envelopes?” asked Muller. But Johann told him that in spite of his usual carelessness in such matters, Professor Fellner never allowed these letters to lie about his room.
Finally the detective came out with the question to which he had been leading up. “Did your master ever receive visits from ladies?”