They found the janitor in the basement and when Bob explained their mission he readily assented to answer their questions.
“Strangers?” he said, repeating the question the federal agent asked. “Yes, a couple of them called about an hour ago. They wanted to know where Mr. Houston lived and I took them up to the third floor back. They said they had been sent to get some papers he had left at home.”
“How did they get in?” the question shot from the lips of the federal agent.
“Why, they had a key,” explained the janitor. “One of them said Mr. Houston had given them his key. It worked all right and I didn’t think any more about it. I was having trouble with the furnace smoking, so I came right back down here.”
“And left them alone in Bob’s room?” the agent pressed.
“That’s right. They seemed to know what they were about.”
“How long did they stay up there?”
“I don’t rightly know. I went up to that floor a few minutes ago, but no one was in sight then. Maybe they were there half an hour; maybe only five minutes.”
“What did they look like?”
The janitor scratched his head.