“Or—does it tell more?”
An ape, he felt sure, could not have been trained, or have sense, to swing so as not to touch a magnetized and super-charged metal plate concealed by being painted the same color as the wooden floor under the skylight.
A man, dressed as an ape, might. But it seemed like a long way to go around to get through, when a more simple possibility was open.
Roger assumed that it might be possible that one of the people interested in securing that priceless treasure which could be supposed to be in their safe, could work there!
The fact that no pressure from outside had given its clue in the pictures, showed him that some “insider” might have opened the only possible place to get the kangaroo in—the coal chute.
His examination, with a high-powered, beam-focusing light and a magnifying lens, revealed that rust under the bolt had been scraped.
But the pictures had shown no sign of the use of “jimmy” or other implement for prying back bolts!
An “insider” was responsible for opening that chute trap.
It would be simple to associate kangaroos with Australians, apes with Africa, possibly India. It would be just as easy to narrow it down to whether any of the staff connected-in with either place.
A man from Australia would naturally think of a kangaroo and its peculiar qualities and usefulness for his plan. A man familiar with a country wherein apes were found might see the usefulness of that animal, or would resort to a costume for disguise that a man from the coal counties of Pennsylvania, for instance, would not have thought of.