“I presume not,” the gentleman replied dryly. “Under other circumstances such intrusion would be unwarrantable, but I presume you understand that in a case like this we must question not only human witnesses but the place itself, and often our most valuable testimony is of a circumstantial character. This broken lock, for instance, would seem to prove that the thief entered through the studio.”
“Oh! that,” I cried, “proves nothing; it has been broken this long while—since the very beginning of the term.”
Winnie clasped my hand tightly, and I understood that she did not wish her escapade with the sliding trunk explained.
“Are you sure of that?” Mr. Mudge asked, looking slightly disappointed. “Even if the lock was not broken on the night of the robbery, the fact still remains that an entrance was practicable here at that time.”
“Why, of course!” I exclaimed. “It must have been the man who looked in at the transom.”
“What man?” asked Mr. Mudge; and I told the story of the appearance the night before. Winnie came forward impulsively, as though she wished to interrupt me, then seemed to change her mind and walked to the window, standing with her back to us.
“And why is it,” asked Mr. Mudge, “that neither Miss Cynthia nor Miss Winnie have mentioned this very suspicious circumstance?”
“I was not in the room when it happened, I did not see the man,” Winnie replied, without turning her head.
“This thief may have made an earlier attempt which was foiled,” Mr. Mudge continued. “It seems to me a little careless that you did not report the fact of the broken lock when you first discovered it, and have the fastening mended.”
Winnie’s eyes shone with suppressed amusement. “You think, then, Mr. Mudge, that some one from the outside committed the burglary? I am very glad that you have renounced the idea that any member of this school could have been guilty of such a thing.”