"Soames got away like that because no one was expecting him to do it. In
the same way, neither Leroux, Exel, nor Dr. Cumberly knew that there was
any one else IN the flat at the very time when the murderer was making
his escape. The cases are identical. They were not looking for a
fugitive. He had gone before the search commenced. A clever man could
have slipped out in a hundred different ways unobserved. Sowerby, you
are..."
What Sowerby was, did not come to light at the moment; for, the door
quietly opened and in walked M. Gaston Max arrayed in his inimitable
traveling coat, and holding his hat of velour in his gloved hand. He
bowed politely.
"Good morning, gentlemen," he said.
"Good morning," said Dunbar and Sowerby together.
Sowerby hastened to place a chair for the distinguished visitor. M.
Max, thanking him with a bow, took his seat, and from an inside pocket
extracted a notebook.
"There are some little points," he said with a deprecating wave of the
hand, "which I should like to confirm." He opened the book, sought the
wanted page, and continued: "Do either of you know a person answering
to the following description: Height, about four feet eight-and-a-half
inches, medium build and carries himself with a nervous stoop.
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