“Did you make out what the thieves had been searching for?”
“Well, his writing-case had been torn open and most of the contents had been strewn about the floor. They’d been in a great hurry over their work. And his pocket-book was pitched over into one corner of the room as if someone had been through the contents and had chucked it away.”
“What about money? His note-case was lying on the dressing-table. I put it there myself when I searched his body yesterday.”
“Some notes were lying on the floor amongst the rest of the stuff. I didn’t count them. In fact I didn’t touch anything. I thought you’d better see things as they were.”
“The window was still open?”
“Yes.”
“It looks as though the burglar (or burglars) had got away before Mr. Shandon saw the ladder, then. They’d cleared out and left the ladder in position. What about the key of the door?”
“It hasn’t turned up.”
“And what happened after that? Why didn’t you ring up the police at once?”
Stenness suppressed a sardonic smile with evident difficulty.