I'll get in touch with you later. By the way, you had better leave
that key with me."

Tierney handed over the key to the padlock, and with a cheery "So
long," started off.

Morgan, left to himself, began a careful inspection of the
apartment. Although assured that the apartment had been unoccupied,
his first act was to discover, if possible, any signs of recent
habitation. Convinced by the blood spot that the principal part of
whatever had happened had taken place in the front room, he decided
to leave that room until the last. Running all the shades to the top
of the windows as he passed from the front to the rear of the
apartment, Morgan made the place as light as possible. He began his
examination with the kitchen. The fastenings on the windows were
closed, and the undisturbed condition of the dust indicated that
they had not been touched for a long period. A careful inspection of
the glass and woodwork showed no finger marks or any attempt to open
the catches. The bolt on the back door was unfastened, but as the
report stated that the police had found this bolt in place, it was
obvious that it had simply been left open by the police. Morgan
carefully scrutinized the condition of the bolt. After pushing it
back into place the difference in brightness of the protected and
unprotected parts convinced him that the bolt had been closed for
some time.

He also noted that the key was missing from the lock. However, this
fact had been referred to in the report, and it could make little
difference if the bolt itself had been fastened. As a matter of
fact, during his search of the pantry, he discovered the key on top