Fordney stooped to pick up a revolver.
‘It’s an easy jump to the ground,’ observed the policeman, who was standing by an open window.
‘Did you know, sir,’ he added, ‘that Gifford has been troubled lately by blackmailers?’
‘Yes. The last time I saw him, he told me he had been shot at a couple of weeks ago.’
Fordney walked over to the door and found the lock was sprung, but the key still in it.
‘I suppose,’ ventured the policeman, ‘that the blackmailers got him. They must have locked the door from the inside when they entered, shot him, and then jumped out the window.’
‘No,’ said Fordney, who was examining the key he had removed from the lock. ‘There weren’t any murderers in here. Gifford committed suicide.’
[Why was the Professor sure that it was suicide?]
9
They Usually Forget Something
‘Here is a good illustration of the old bromide that the smartest criminal leaves some clue in even the most carefully planned crime,’ mused Professor Fordney.