Rolfe put down the little dog he had been holding, and went out into the hall.  The dog accompanied him, frisking about him in friendly fashion.  Rolfe first examined the bedroom that he had seen Inspector Chippenfield enter.  It was a small room, containing a double bed.  It was prettily furnished in white, with white curtains, and toilet-table articles in ivory to match.  A glance round the room convinced Rolfe that it was impossible for a man to secrete himself in it.  The door of the wardrobe had been flung open by the inspector, and the dresses and other articles of feminine apparel it contained flung out on the floor.  There was no other hiding-place possible, except beneath the bed, and the ruthless hand of the inspector had torn off the white muslin bed hangings, revealing emptiness underneath.  Rolfe went out into the hall again, and entered the room next the bedroom.  This apartment was apparently used as a dining-room, for it contained a large table, a few chairs, a small sideboard, a spirit-stand, a case of books and ornaments, and two small oak presses.  Plainly, there was no place in it where a man could hide himself.  The next room was the bathroom, which was also empty.  Opposite the bathroom was a small bedroom, very barely furnished, offering no possibility of concealment.  Then the passage opened into a large roomy kitchen, the full width of the rooms on both sides of the hall, and the kitchen completed the flat.

Rolfe glanced keenly around the kitchen.  There were no cooking appliances visible, or pots or pans, but there was much lumber and odds and ends, as though the place were used as a store-room.  Presumably Miss Fanning obtained her meals from the restaurant on the ground floor of the mansions and had no use for a kitchen.  The room was dirty and dusty and crowded with all kinds of rubbish.  But the miscellaneous rubbish stored in the room offered no hiding-place for a man.  Rolfe nevertheless made a conscientious search, shifting the lumber about and ferreting into dark corners, without result.  Finally he crossed the room to look out of the window, which had been left open, no doubt by Inspector Chippenfield.

The mansions in which the flat was situated formed part of a large building, with back windows overlooking a small piece of ground.  The flat was on the fourth story.  Rolfe looked around the neighbouring roofs and down onto the ground fifty feet below, but could see nothing.

He withdrew his head and was turning to leave the room when his attention was attracted by the peculiar behaviour of the dog, which had followed him throughout on his search.  The little animal, after sniffing about the floor, ran to the open window and started whining and jumping up at it.  Rolfe quickly returned to the window and looked out.

“Why, of course!” he muttered.  “How could I have overlooked it?  Inspector,” he called aloud, “come here!”

Inspector Chippenfield appeared in the kitchen in a state of some excitement at the summons.  He carried the key of the front room in his hand, having taken the precaution to lock Miss Fanning in before he responded to the call of his colleague.