“Probably you’d like to look at them, professor. But we haven’t located anything in the study — and that’s the place that counts.”
“What about Homer Briggs?” asked the commissioner, glancing at a report sheet on the desk.
“That’s the point I’m coming to,” stated Cardona. “With Glenn, there are lots of people who knew him. But with Harshaw, there are very few.
“We have located three who, like yourself, Professor Biscayne, knew the old man as an acquaintance only. Doctor Fredericks knew him only as a patient. Harshaw always came to his office, however. But Homer Briggs is the man we want.”
“What do you think about it, Biscayne?” asked Weston.
“Cardona is correct,” agreed the professor. “I told you of my own observations — that Harshaw seemed to mistrust Briggs. The old man was evidently anxious to guard something.
“Briggs might have stolen from him. Of course, we must also consider that Briggs is an ignorant type of man. He may have read of Harshaw’s death and become afraid—”
“We’ll learn all that,” declared Cardona, “when we have arrested Briggs. I am also considering him in the light of an accomplice — connected in some way with the actual murder.
“Briggs left while Harshaw was still alive. After that, some one mounted to the window of the study and shot the old man.
“If the killer’s purpose was merely to dispose of Harshaw, the job is ended. But I think there’s more to it than that.”