‘Yes. What might have happened is something like this. The doors from the circle into the upper foyer were shut and the auditorium was in darkness. The thief lay doggo in the circle. He heard Jay and Miss Dunne go out and bang the stage-door. He waited until midnight and then crept up to the door nearest the hole in the wall and listened for Jobbins to put through his midnight report to Fire and Police. You’ve checked that he made this call. We’re on firm ground there, at least.’

‘And the chap at the Fire Station, which was the second of his two calls, reckons he broke off a bit abruptly.’

‘Exactly. Now, if I’m right so far – and I know damn’ well I’m going to speculate – our man would choose this moment to open the wall panel – it doesn’t lock – and manipulate the combination. He’s already cut the burglar alarm off at the main. He must have had a torch, but I wouldn’t mind betting that by intention or accident he touched the inner switch button and without knowing he’d done so, rolled back the front door which in its turn, put on the interior lighting. If it was accidental he wouldn’t realize what he’d done until he’d opened the back of the safe and removed the black velvet display stand with its contents and found himself looking through a peephole across the upper foyer and sunken landing.’

‘With the square of light reflected on the opposite wall.’

‘As bright as ninepence. Quite bright enough to attract Jobbins’s attention.’

‘Now it gets a bit dicey.’

‘Don’t I know it.’

‘What happens? This chap reckons he’d better make a bolt for it. But why does he come out here to the foyer?’ Fox placidly regarded his chief. ‘This,’ he continued, ‘would be asking for it. This would be balmy. He knows Jobbins is somewhere out here.’

‘I can only cook up one answer to that, Fox. He’s got the loot. He intends to shut the safe, fore and aft and spin the lock. He means to remove the loot from the display stand but at this point he’s interrupted. He hears a voice, a catcall, a movement. Something. He turns round to find young Trevor Vere watching him. He thinks Jobbins is down below at the telephone. He bolts through the door from the circle to this end of the foyer meaning to duck into the loo before Jobbins gets up. Jobbins would then go into the circle and find young Trevor and assume he was the culprit. But he’s too late. Jobbins having seen the open safe comes thundering up from below. He makes for this chap who gives him a violent shove to the pedestal and the dolphin lays Jobbins flat. Trevor comes out to the foyer and sees this. Our chap goes for him. The boy runs back through the door and down the central aisle with his pursuer hard on his heels. He’s caught at the foot of the steps. There’s a struggle during which the boy grabs at the display stand. The polythene cover is dislodged, the treasure falls overboard with it. The boy is hit on the face. He falls across the balustrade, face down, clinging to it. He’s picked up by the seat of his trousers, swung sideways and heaved over, his nails dragging semi-diagonally across the velvet pile as he goes. At this point Hawkins comes down the stage-door alley.’