There was but one other door, and that opened into a pass pantry, which, in turn, opened into the dining room. Riley went into the dining room, which had not been touched, since they had decided to eat in the living room, and found no traces of an intruder there. Even the dust on the floor had not been disturbed. There were no traces in the pass pantry, and it would have been impossible, of course, for any one to have entered through the living room, since they had been in it constantly since reaching the house, and would have seen any unwelcome visitor.
“Humph!” Riley said, and looked at Muggs suspiciously.
“Boss, he thinks I done it!” Muggs exclaimed.
“Nonsense!” Verbeck replied.
“I don’t think you’re a member of the Black Star’s gang, if that’s what you mean,” Riley stated, “but I do think it wouldn’t be a bit past you to try out a little joke.”
“I didn’t! Boss, I swear I didn’t!”
“I believe you,” Verbeck said.
“Then it’s mighty puzzlin’,” Riley declared. “Rows of black stars don’t go stickin’ themselves to bread of their own accord.”
He stepped back and looked at the interior of the kitchen again. No one had entered or left by the rear door or any of the windows—that much was certain. No one could have entered from the living room through the pass pantry. Then——
The table stood beside the range. Over the range was a big hood that opened into a wide chimney. Riley went forward and peered into the hood—struck a match and held it beside his head and peered into the chimney’s wide mouth. There was some dust and soot sprinkled over the back of the range, but Riley could not tell whether it had been sprinkled there recently, because the house had been uninhabited for so long that dust and soot and cobwebs were everywhere.