“Carter brought me over, you know. I was unable to do very much until the girl, who had acted as Mr. Warren's secretary, came. She came to the library about one and showed me what had been done. I found that Warren had half completed his book. In fact I never looked at any of his material beyond where he had ended. He was half finished, and I thought it would be best to see just what had been done.”
Bartley gave a quick look at the pieces of paper upon the floor and asked: “Then this torn paper is simply the notes and materials which Warren used in the first portion of his book?”
“Yes. I left the papers upon the desk when I went out. As I told you, I did not go beyond what Warren had already done. I wanted to become familiar with his plan. For that matter, the untouched notes are still in the safe. But when I returned to the library, I found the condition which you see.”
“It looks as if some one simply destroyed those papers in a fit of rage,” was Carter's comment.
I saw Ranville turn to Bartley and their eyes met; but they said nothing, and it was Patton's excited voice which broke the silence:
“That's right, Carter. Of all fool things, the biggest one was to destroy that mass of notes I left on the desk. The manuscript of the book, the half which Warren had completed, is still in the safe.”
“You say you left the library?”
Patton nodded. “Yes; about five o'clock the secretary went home for her lunch. She was to return again in an hour. I remembered what you told me—not to leave the library unguarded if I went out.”
“What!” came Carter's startled voice as he turned to Bartley. “Do you mean to tell me you expected something like this to happen?”
Bartley's eyes went down the length of the room to the still figure at the door. There was a note of sorrow in his voice as he replied briefly: