He shrugged his shoulders. “Obviously not the telephone receiver. You can’t lift a telephone receiver without touching it.”
“What are you going to do about this, Chief?”
“Darned if I know.”
“Going to tell Tragg?”
“I think not — not yet.”
“And you think this implicates Rebecca?”
He said, “I don’t know. After all, Arthur Gentrie was the one who got the message, and apparently the only one. That tin was left there for a purpose. It contained a message. The person who left it knew it contained a message, and the person who was to have received the message knew that it contained a message. Apparently, the only one who made any attempt to open the can was Arthur Gentrie.”
“But he was in bed at the time the shot was fired.”
“Exactly.”
The telephone, which was connected with Mason’s private unlisted line — a number which less than half a dozen people had — buzzed into activity. Mason picked up the receiver, said, “Let’s have it.”