"And do you grasp another fact—that Hannah a little before nine heard the dogs barking and then quieting down as if they scented some one they knew?"
I nodded; that too I'd made a mental note of.
"It couldn't have been Price for he was on the way to town then."
"Oh, Price—" he gave an impatient jerk of his head—"of course it wasn't Price, but it was some one the dogs knew. That would have been just about the time a man, watching the house and seeing the ground floor dark, would have come across the lawn to make his entrance."
I pondered for a spell then said:
"Did you ever tell this to Mrs. Janney or any of them?"
"No, I didn't think of it myself until a little while ago—the night I dined here and saw it was one of Mr. Janney's cigars. And then what was the use—the light by the safe had fixed the time."
"Yes—if it wasn't for that light you'd have got a real lead. Too bad, for it's a bully starting point, and it would have let out those other two."
He stiffened up, suddenly haughty looking.
"There's no necessity of letting out people who never were in. But if that light was eliminated you could work on the theory that a professional thief—an expert safe opener—had done the business."