“Hush! Of course not,” cried Jess, in a lower tone.
“No, I do not distrust him,” said Laura Belding.
“What do you mean, then, by saying that the fellow opened the window from the inside?”
“And that’s ridiculous, Laura!” cried Jess. “He walked up to the window from across the field—you can see he did. And there’s no mark showing how he went away. He did not leave by the window. He could not have been inside when he came from outside——”
“Hold on! Hold on!” warned Bobby. “You’re getting dreadfully mixed, Jess.”
“But I don’t see what Laura’s driving at,” declared her chum.
“Why,” said Mother Wit, calmly, “the person who made those shoe prints walked backwards. Don’t you see? That is what makes the shuffling mark at the heel. And see! the step is so uneven in length. He escaped by the window; he didn’t enter by it.”
“Well!” cried Nellie Agnew. “That explains without explaining. The mystery is deeper than ever.”
“Why is it?” demanded Jess.
“Don’t you see? Before, we thought we knew how the fellow got in. It seems to be an easier thing to get out of the gym. than into it. But now Laura knocks that in the head. The mystery is: How did he get in?”