“I think, Sir,” replied the latter, “we had better get the paper off and have a look at the box.”
“Very well,” said Thorndyke, “but don’t take anything for granted. Make sure that the paper isn’t part of the joke.”
I watched Polton with intense—and far from impersonal—interest, wishing only that I could have observed him from a somewhat greater distance. But for all his contempt for the “booby-trap,” he took no unnecessary risks. First, with a pair of scissors, he cut out a piece at the back and enlarged the opening so that he could peer in and inspect the top of the lid. When he had made sure that there were no pitfalls, he ran the scissors round the top and exposed the box, which he carefully lifted out of the remainder of the wrapping and laid down tenderly on the bench. It was a ciga
