"Buthefoundtheicture,
"Hatchinsisted。
"Ofcoursehefoundit。Itwasutthereforhimtofind。
"
"Putthereforhimtofind!
"reeatedthereorter。
"DidntJenningsstealit?
"
"Ifhedid,hesafool。
"
"Well,ifhedidntstealit,whoutitthere?
"
"DeLesses。
"
"DeLesses!
"echoedHatch。
"Whythedeucedidhestealafiftythousand-dollarictureandutitinaservantstrunktobefound?
"
TheThinkingMachinetwistedaroundinhisseatandsquintedathimcoldlyforamoment。
"Attimes,MrHatch,Iamabsolutelyamazedatyourstuidity,
"hesaidfrankly。
"IcanunderstanditinamanlikeMallory,butIhavealwaysgivenyoucreditforbeinganastute,quick-wittedman。
"
Hatchsmiledatthereroach。Itwasnotthefirsttimehehadheardofit。ButnothingbearingontherobleminhandwassaiduntiltheyreachedTheThinkingMachinesaartments。
"Theonlyrealquestioninmymind,MrHatch,
"saidthescientistthen,
"iswhetherornotIshouldtakethetroubletorestoreMrKalesictureatall。Heiserfectlysatisfied,andwillrobablyneverknowthedifference。So-
"
SuddenlyHatchsawsomething。
"GreatScott!
"heexclaimed。
"DoyoumeanthattheicturethatMalloryfoundwas-
"
"Acoyoftheoriginal,
"sulementedthescientist。
"PersonallyIknownothingwhateveraboutart;therefore,Icouldnotsayfromobservationthatitisacoy,butIknowitfromthelogicofthething。Whentheoriginalwascutfromtheframe,theknifeswervedalittleattheuerrighthandcorner。Thecanvasremainingintheframetoldmethat。TheicturethatMrMalloryfounddidnotcorresondinthisdetailwiththecanvasintheframe。Theconclusionisobvious。
"
"AnddeLesseshastheoriginal?
"
"DeLesseshastheoriginal。Howdidhegetit?Inanyoneofadozenways。Hemighthaverolledituandstuckitunderhiscoat。Hemighthavehadaconfederate。ButIdontthinkthatanyordinarymethodoftheftwouldhaveaealedtohim。Iamgivinghimcreditforbeingclever,asImustwhenwereviewthewholecase。