"Mallory does show an occasional gleam of human intelligence; doesn' t he? " he said at last quizzically.
"Not that I ever noticed, " remarked The Thinking Machine crustily.
"But he found the picture, " Hatch insisted.
"Of course he found it. It was put there for him to find."
"Put there for him to find!" repeated the reporter. "Didn' t Jennings steal it? "
"If he did, he' s a fool."
"Well, if he didn' t steal it, who put it there? "
"De Lesseps."
"De Lesseps!" echoed Hatch. "Why the deuce did he steal a fifty thousand-dollar picture and put it in a servant' s trunk to be found? "
The Thinking Machine twisted around in his seat and squinted at him coldly for a moment. "At times, Mr. Hatch, I am absolutely amazed at your stupidity, " he said frankly. "I can understand it in a man like Mallory, but I have always given you credit for being an astute, quick-witted man."
Hatch smiled at the reproach. It was not the first time he had heard of it. But nothing bearing on the problem in hand was said until they reached The Thinking Machine' s apartments.
"The only real question in my mind, Mr. Hatch, " said the scientist then, "is whether or not I should take the trouble to restore Mr. Kale' s picture at all. He is perfectly satisfied, and will probably never know the difference. So—"
Suddenly Hatch saw something. "Great Scott!" he exclaimed. "Do you mean that the picture that Mallory found was—"
"A copy of the original, " supplemented the scientist. "Personally I know nothing whatever about art; therefore, I could not say from observation that it is a copy, but I know it from the logic of the thing. When the original was cut from the frame, the knife swerved a little at the upper right hand corner. The canvas remaining in the frame told me that. The picture that Mr. Mallory found did not correspond in this detail with the canvas in the frame. The conclusion is obvious."