OU_214051 UNIVERSA - Osmania University

A CRIME IN HOLLAND 231
ridiculous to think that the murderer, before making off, should
have had the presence of mind and the coolness of judgment to throw
it in through the window, which was only open a few inches . . .
having previously burgled the house to put a cap in the bath and
a cigar-end in the dining-room/'
He started walking up and down the room, still avoiding the
eyes of his audience. Liewens and the Baes, who could not understand
his words, stared at him intently, trying to divine their sense.
" That cap, the cigar-end, and, lastly, the revolver taken from
Popinga's desk—it was too much. . . . Do you see what I mean?
.. . Somebody was overdoing it. Dragging too many red herrings
across the trail. Oosting or someone else coming from outside might
have left any one of those clues, two at the most, but certainly
not all.
" We can proceed by elimination. . . . The first to drop out is
the Baes. Are we really to suppose that he first went into the diningroom
to throw a cigar-end on the floor, then upstairs to look for
Popinga's revolver, finally to leave his own cap in the bath? And
all this without anybody seeing him?
" Next we can rule out Beetje. She never went upstairs during
the evening, and thus could not have put the cap in the bath. Nor
could she have taken the cap in the first place, since she was walking
by Popinga's side.
" Her father could have killed Popinga, after seeing him with
Beetje, in a sudden access of rage. But how could he have entered
the house unnoticed either?
" That leaves only Barens, apart from the household. He didn't
go upstairs either, and if he'd pinched the cap, wouldn't Any have
seen him? . . . He might have been jealous of his teacher, but
—well, you've only to look at the boy! Does he look the sort
that can commit a murder and not confess it within twenty-four
hours? "
Maigret paused, knocking out his pipe against his heel, oblivious
of the carpet.
" That's about all, at least as regards outsiders. We are left with
Madame Popinga, Any, and Jean Duclos. What proof is there
against any one of them? Jean Duclos came out of the bathroom
with the revolver in his hand. Many would say that that proved his
innocence. But it might also be a very cunning move. •.. There
remains the question of the cap. Neither he nor Madame Popinga
could have taken it without the other's complicity. . •.