"I know, we shook those hangings, we pressed against them, we did everything but look behind them. See here, did you look behind them?"
"No, but I saw something on the floor that gave me an idea."
"Ah, what was that?"
"Some yellowish dust. I picked up a little of it. There." He unfolded a paper and showed a few grains of coarse brownish powder. "You see there are only board partitions between these rooms, the boards are about an inch thick, so a sharp auger would make the holes quickly. But there would be dust and chips."
"Of course."
"Well, this is some of the dust. The woman probably threw the chips out of the window."
"The woman?"
Coquenil nodded. "She helped Martinez while he bored the holes."
Tignol listened in amazement. "You think Martinez bored those holes? The man who was murdered?"
"Undoubtedly. The spirals from the auger blade inside the holes show plainly that the boring was done from Number Six toward Number Seven. Take the glass and see for yourself."