Part 30 (2/2)
”Was it locked when you went in?”
”I'm sure I don't know. I don't go about trying the cupboards and drawers.”
”What furniture is there in the drawing-room?”
”A cabinet, six or seven chairs, a Chesterfield sofa, a piano, a silver-table, and one or two occasional tables.”
”Is the piano a grand or an upright.”
”It is an upright grand.”
”In what position is it placed?”
”It stands across a corner near the window.”
”Is there sufficient room behind it for a man to conceal himself?”
Miss Dobbs was amused and did not dissemble. ”Oh, yes,” she sn.i.g.g.e.red, ”there's plenty of room for a man to hide behind it.”
”When you searched the drawing-room, did you look behind the piano?”
”No, I didn't!” Miss Dobbs replied scornfully.
”Did you look under the sofa?”
”Certainly not!”
”What did you do, then?”
”We opened the door and looked into the room. We were not looking for a cat or a monkey; we were looking for a middle-aged gentleman.”
”And am I to take it that your search over the rest of the house was conducted in a similar manner?”
”Certainly. We looked into the rooms, but we did not search under the beds or in the cupboards.”
”Are all the rooms in the house in use as living or sleeping rooms?”
”No; there is one room on the second floor that is used as a store and lumber room, and one on the first floor that Mr. Hurst uses to store trunks and things that he is not using.”
”Did you look in those rooms when you searched the house?”
”No.”
”Have you looked in them since?”
”I have been in the lumber-room since, but not in the other. It is always kept locked.”
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