Stevens, who dogged the maid's footsteps and who was generally to be found in her vicinity, was soon on the scene.
"See! The window's open!" she whispered tremblingly.
Stevens shook his head.
"I locked it myself," he said, going over to it to examine the lock.
"It has been forced," he informed her, and beckoned to her to come and look at it.
With the gloom which the newsboys' cry had cast over them, the sight of the broken fastening filled them with horror.
"Who did it?" wailed Foster.
Stevens stepped out upon the porch; there was no one there. He glanced into the restricted space below; he saw nothing, heard nothing. So he stepped back into the room and closed the window, and looked at Foster with significance. Finally he answered:—
"One of those stone masons must have done it. He looked queer, acted queer; that is, to me."
Foster caught him by the arm.