“Sifting clues?” I asked, trying to speak casually.
Kee looked at me, and smiled a little.
“Absent clues rather than present ones,” he said. “You see, the waistcoats and the Totem Pole disappeared, but so did the plate—the fruit plate.”
“Is that important?” I asked.
“Why, yes, in a way. Everything that is here or that isn’t here is important.”
“A bit cryptic, but I grasp your meaning,” I told him. “Then the hammer that belongs to the nail is important?”
“Very much so,” Kee answered, gravely. “Do you know where it is?”
“I don’t, but it seems to me you haven’t looked for it very hard. If the murderer is one of this household, presumably he used a hammer belonging here.”
“Then it loses its importance. The hammer is only of interest if it was brought in from outside.”
“Have you made any headway at all, Kee?”