The stranger smiled at the physician’s words.
“The needle and the thimble,” repeated the man in black. “Also the spurious code — sealed in an envelope.”
“That’s right,” agreed Doctor Lukens. He drew the opened envelope from his pocket. The stranger reached over to examine it.
“Let us suppose that this document was considered valuable by Henry Marchand,” suggested the stranger. “Why did he keep it here rather than in a safe-deposit vault?”
“So it would be where he could watch it — or refer to it,” replied the physician.
“Agreed. Kept in a concealed drawer, opened by an ingenious device, the paper would be well protected.
“But why should it be in a sealed envelope? That would be no deterrent to a thief who might discover the secret of the drawer. Marchand could not have wanted to protect the envelope. A clever thief, stealing the document, would substitute a similar envelope stuffed with blank paper.
“Moreover, if Marchand had been trying to decipher a code which he did not understand, he would not have kept it sealed.”
“It does seem illogical,” admitted Doctor Lukens.
“Illogical,” said the stranger, “and improbable.”