been torn," Strawn directed, pointing to
a rambler rose which hugged the outside frame of the window. "And look
hard enough at the flower bed down below and you'll see his
footprints.... Of course we've measured them and Cain, as you see, is
guarding them till my man comes to make plaster casts of them.... Yes,
sir, he hoisted himself up to the window ledge, aimed as best he could,
then slipped down and beat it across the meadow."

"Then," Dundee began slowly, "I wonder why Mrs. Selim didn't see that
figure crouched in the window, since she must have been powdering her
face and looking into the middle of the three mirrors--the one which
reflects this very window?"

"How do you know she was powdering her face, not looking for something
in a drawer?" Strawn demanded truculently.

"For three reasons," Dundee answered almost apologetically. "First: her
powder puff, as I'm sure you noticed, is still clutched in her right
hand; second: there is no drawer open, and no drawer _was_ open, unless
someone has closed it since the murder, whereas on the other hand her
powder box _is_ open; third: the left side of her face is unevenly
coated with powder, while the other is heavily but _evenly_ powdered.
Therefore I can't see why she didn't scream, or turn around when she
heard your gunman clambering up to her window, or even when he had
crouched in it. I don't see how she could _help_ seeing him!"

"Well--what do _you_ think?" Strawn asked sourly, after he had tested
the visibility of the window from the dressing-table mirror.

"I'm afraid, Captain Strawn, that there are only two explanations
possible. The first, of course, is that Nita Selim was quite deaf or
very nearsighted. I happen to know from having met her today--"

"_You_ met her today?" Strawn interrupted incredulously.

Dundee explained briefly, then went on: "As I was saying I have good
reason to know she was not deaf, but I can't say as to her being
nearsighted, except that it is my observation that people who are
extremely nearsighted do not have very wide eyes and no creases between
the brows. I am fairly sure she did not wear glasses at all, because
glasses worn even a few hours a day leave a mark across the nose or show
pinched red spots on each side of the bridge of the nose."

"You must have had a good hard look at her," Strawn gibed, his grey eyes
twinkling, and his harsh, thin-lipped mouth pulling down at one corner
in what he thought was a genial smile.