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The Case of the Caretakers Cat :: Гарднер Эрл Стенли
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"Well, what of it?"
"If he was so drunk he couldn't shut off the motor, but wasjust sprawled over the wheel, letting the motor run, it would hardly seem possible he'd have been able to get up, close the garage doors, switch out the lights and return to his car."
She nodded slowly.
"I hadn't thought of that."
"You're expecting this friend who is going to advise you what to do?"
"Yes, he's due at any minute."
"Would you mind telling me his name?"
"I don't think that needs to enter into it."
"Is it Frank Oafley?"
"I refuse to answer."
"And you aren't going to tell the authorities about this unless your friend tells you to?"
"I'm not going to commit myself on that. I'm not putting myself entirely in this friend's hands. I'm only asking him for advice."
"But you feel that in some way the fire was started through the exhaust fumes?"
"I'm not a mechanic; I don't know anything about automobiles. I don't know anything about gas furnaces. But I do know there's a flame in that gas furnace all the time, and it seemed to me if the mixture in the carburetor had been rather rich and some gasoline fumes had been thrown into the furnace, they might have exploded and started a fire."
Mason yawned ostentatiously, glanced at Drake and said, "Well, Paul, I guess that isn't going to help us much. There's no way those exhaust fumes could have started a fire."
She looked from one to the other with disappointment on her face.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Then why was the hose running from the exhaust to the pipe in the heating outfit?"
Mason countered with another question. "There was only one light in the garage?"
"That's right—a very brilliant light which hung in the center of the garage."
"Don't you suppose it's possible what you saw was a rope instead of a hose?"
"Absolutely not—it was some sort of flexible tubing—that is, the outside of it looked like flexible rubber tubing, and it ran from the exhaust of Sam Laxter's car to a hole which had been cut in the heating pipe. It's a big heating pipe, you know, covered with asbestos. The hot air goes up through there, into Pete Laxter's bedroom and sitting room."
Mason nodded thoughtfully. "Tell you what I'll do," he said. "I'll look around a little bit and if you decide to tell your story to the authorities I may be able to help you get in touch with some of the members of the homicide squad who aren't quite as skeptical and hardboiled as Sergeant Holcomb."
"I'd like that," she said simply.
"Well, what of it?"
"If he was so drunk he couldn't shut off the motor, but wasjust sprawled over the wheel, letting the motor run, it would hardly seem possible he'd have been able to get up, close the garage doors, switch out the lights and return to his car."
She nodded slowly.
"I hadn't thought of that."
"You're expecting this friend who is going to advise you what to do?"
"Yes, he's due at any minute."
"Would you mind telling me his name?"
"I don't think that needs to enter into it."
"Is it Frank Oafley?"
"I refuse to answer."
"And you aren't going to tell the authorities about this unless your friend tells you to?"
"I'm not going to commit myself on that. I'm not putting myself entirely in this friend's hands. I'm only asking him for advice."
"But you feel that in some way the fire was started through the exhaust fumes?"
"I'm not a mechanic; I don't know anything about automobiles. I don't know anything about gas furnaces. But I do know there's a flame in that gas furnace all the time, and it seemed to me if the mixture in the carburetor had been rather rich and some gasoline fumes had been thrown into the furnace, they might have exploded and started a fire."
Mason yawned ostentatiously, glanced at Drake and said, "Well, Paul, I guess that isn't going to help us much. There's no way those exhaust fumes could have started a fire."
She looked from one to the other with disappointment on her face.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Then why was the hose running from the exhaust to the pipe in the heating outfit?"
Mason countered with another question. "There was only one light in the garage?"
"That's right—a very brilliant light which hung in the center of the garage."
"Don't you suppose it's possible what you saw was a rope instead of a hose?"
"Absolutely not—it was some sort of flexible tubing—that is, the outside of it looked like flexible rubber tubing, and it ran from the exhaust of Sam Laxter's car to a hole which had been cut in the heating pipe. It's a big heating pipe, you know, covered with asbestos. The hot air goes up through there, into Pete Laxter's bedroom and sitting room."
Mason nodded thoughtfully. "Tell you what I'll do," he said. "I'll look around a little bit and if you decide to tell your story to the authorities I may be able to help you get in touch with some of the members of the homicide squad who aren't quite as skeptical and hardboiled as Sergeant Holcomb."
"I'd like that," she said simply.