“And what are we going to do?” asked Paul.
“You and I are going into that first room and investigate. If there is anything to be found, somehow I feel convinced that it will be found in that room. I have only one reason for it. When I was hit on the head I had my back to that door. Therefore the person who hit me came out of that room.”
“That sounds reasonable,” remarked Paul. “But I, on the contrary, have no illusions about finding any clues there. It seems to me that we went over every inch of ground in that room.”
“You are wrong, Paul,” contradicted Jack. “All we did was merely look around. We did not make a real search of the room.”
The boys came to the house. All three of them made sure of a good location for Ken to hide and keep watch. When that was done, Paul and Jack entered the house and closed the door behind them. “Now,” whispered Jack, “Let’s open the door of this first room and examine it.” Jack did so and swung the door back and forth on its hinges. “Notice something?” he asked his chum.
“I most certainly do, Jack. This is very suspicious.”
“What is it you notice?” asked Jack.
“Why, the movement of the door swinging on its hinges; it’s noiseless. Isn’t that what you mean?”
“Yes. The hinges must be well oiled and that is why I did not hear when the door was opened and I was hit on the head. Under normal circumstances, the hinges should be rusty and there should be plenty of squeaking every time the door is swung open.”