Then he undertook a methodical search, working with a rapid yet painstaking thoroughness which missed nothing. From a wardrobe he selected an overcoat and pair of trousers which reeked with turpentine. They were old and soiled garments, very different from the well-cut black coat and waistcoat, with striped cloth trousers, worn daily by the chemist. He drew a blank in the remainder of the upstairs rooms, which included a sitting-room, though he devoted fully quarter of an hour to reading the titles of Siddle’s books.
A safe in the little dispensing closet at the back of the shop promised sheer defiance until Furneaux saw a bunch of keys resting beside a methylated spirit lamp.
“’Twas ever thus!” he cackled, lighting the lamp. “Heaven help us poor detectives if it wasn’t!”
In a word, since murder will out, Siddle had forgotten his keys! Probably, he had gone to the safe for money, and, while writing the notice as to his absence, had laid down the keys and omitted to pick them up again.
Furneaux disregarded ledgers and account books. He examined a bank pass-book and a check-book. In a drawer which contained these and a quantity of gold he found a small, leather-bound book with a lock, which no key on the bunch was tiny enough to fit. A bit of twisted wire soon overcame this difficulty, and Furneaux began to read.
There were quaint diagrams, and surveyor’s sketches, both in plan and section, with curious notes, and occasional records of what appeared to be passages from letters or conversations. The detective read, and read, referring back and forth, absorbed in his task, no doubt, but evidently puzzled.
At last, he stuffed the book into a pocket, completed his scrutiny of the safe, examined the bottles on the shelf labeled “poisons,” and took a sample of the colorless contents of one bottle marked “C10H14N2.”
Then he went to the kitchen, replaced all catches and the lock of the door, and let himself out by the way he had come.
Winter saw him from afar, and hastened upstairs to the private sitting-room. Furneaux appeared there soon.
“Well?” said the Chief Inspector eagerly.