Золотой жук. Уровень 1 / The Gold-bug

It was firmly closed, fastened from within[5 - from within – изнутри]. In its frame to the left, I discovered a very stout nail. The nail held the window closed. When I examined the other window, I discovered a similar nail in it. No one could raise the window when the killings were discovered. I, too, tried to raise the window and could not. This convinced the police there was no possibility of escape through the windows. But I knew what seemed impossible must be proved to be possible.

“I proceeded to think.

If the murderers – or the murderer – escaped through one of the windows, the windows must have the power of fastening themselves. I put off the nail from the first window. Then I carefully felt the window and finally discovered the hidden spring. I pressed it and the window opened easily. But when I put the nail back in, it again was impossible to open the window. Now I knew no one could escape from that window.

“I went to the second window. There was a similar looking nail in it and a spring.

Without touching the nail, I pressed the spring and tried to raise the window. Up it went! Turned out, that the nail was broken and only looked like it held the window tightly. And the spring was that mechanism that let the window to fasten itself.

“Now we proved the murderer (I am now sure there is only one murderer) indeed escaped through that window.”

“But, Dupin,” I interrupted him, “the windows are on the fourth floor, far above from the ground.

How could someone…”

“Yes, that is an interesting question: how did the murderer go from the window down to the ground? When we walked around the house, I noted a lightning rod that went from the top of the building to the ground. It is a way for someone to go up or down the wall, and then to go inside and outside the house. Although that someone must be extremely strong. The only question left – who?”

I had some vague hunches about where Dupin was leading me but I was unable to see the answer.

He continued his discourse:

“Now let’s think of motive. Do you remember in what condition the room was found? There was the wildest possible disorder. The murderer threw clothes around the room but, it seemed, did not take any of it. One of the witnesses mentioned that the old lady took home a large amount of money from the bank three days before the killing. That money was found, in bags, on the floor.