Then I glanced at Hinman.
He was looking at the handkerchief thoughtfully, his lips tightly
closed. I could guess what he was thinking, but he said nothing.
Goldberger laid the handkerchief on the table, at last, and turned
back to the body. He bent close above it, examining the blood spots,
and when he stood erect again there was in his face a strange
excitement.
"Lend me your glass, Simmonds," he said, and when Simmonds handed him
a small pocket magnifying-glass, he unfolded it and bent above the
stains again, scrutinising each in turn. At last he closed the glass
with an emphatic little snap. "This case isn't going to be so
difficult, after all," he said. "Those spots are finger-prints."
With an exclamation of astonishment, Simmonds took the glass and
examined the stains; then he handed it to Godfrey, who finally passed
it on to me. Looking through it, I saw that Goldberger was right. The
stains had been made by human fingers. Most of them were mere
smudges, but here and there was one on which faint lines could be
dimly traced.
"They seem to be pretty vague," I remarked, passing the glass on to
Hinman.
"They're plenty clear enough for our purpose," said Goldberger;
"besides they will come out much clearer in photographs.
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