UNDER the full glare of the electric lights which he had turned on, Palmer tramped uneasily up and down his living room while he waited for Hayden to return from the bedroom where the three men had taken Peter Burnham twenty minutes before. Maynard, more self-controlled, sat before the chess board and, utterly lost to his companion’s continued restlessness, he moved the chessmen about intent only on solving some abstruse problem. The minutes dragged along before Palmer’s impatience was finally rewarded by the entrance of the physician.
“Burnham has regained consciousness and is resting more easily,” he announced, as the two men came toward him. “If he continues to improve I see no reason why he should not return home a little later; if not——”
“He can have my bedroom,” interrupted Palmer. “But some one will have to tell Mrs. Burnham;” Palmer did not look happy at the thought. “Guess it’s up to you, Maynard, to break the news; you are their house guest.”
Hayden walked over to the wall and stared at the bullet then, without speaking to his companions, he paced off the distance to the window facing the balcony which still remained open, and reaching there he turned and studied the room.
“The bullet must have come from this direction,” he said. “Burnham was sitting directly in the line of fire. Did you see any one lurking on the balcony, Palmer, when you looked out?”
“No, and yet some one must have been hiding there.” Palmer stepped over to the window. “It’s a dark night”—pointing to the overcast sky and foggy atmosphere, “and the light in this room made the balcony darker by contrast. I don’t see how any one could have gotten on the balcony from the hall in the brief time which elapsed between my turning my back to the window and the firing of the shot; it was like that——” A snap of his fingers illustrated his meaning.
Maynard moved nearer. “An agile man could do it,” he spoke with conviction. “I found the balcony window in the hall standing wide open.”
Palmer walked down the room to the desk telephone. “Then I think we had better call in the police,” he said. “Captain La Montagne can explain his presence in the corridor to them.”
“He did, to you,” retorted Maynard warmly. “He stated he was looking for Mrs. Van Ness’ apartment. La Montagne is absolutely straight; I have known him for years, he would not stoop to assassination.”
“But Burnham’s words implied——” objected Palmer.