“Only a minute or two before I called for help. I tried the telephone first.”
“Why didn’t you summon the janitor?”
“I never thought of that. I was so excited I ran outside hoping to find a policeman.”
Penny nodded and, returning to the living room, satisfied herself that the telephone wires actually had been cut.
“You didn’t notice anyone in the halls as you went downstairs.”
“No one. Old Mr. Veely was on the lower floor when I came from the show, but he’s lived here for seven years. I don’t see how the burglar got into the apartment.”
“I was wondering about that myself. You’re quite sure you locked the suite door?”
“Oh, yes, I know I did,” the maid said emphatically. “And it isn’t possible to get into the building without a key. Otherwise, the janitor must be called.”
Penny walked thoughtfully to the living room window. The apartment stood fully thirty-five feet from a neighboring building, with the space between much too wide to be spanned. Below, the alley was deserted, and no fire escape ascended from it.
“The burglar couldn’t have entered that way,” declared the maid. “He must have had his own key.”