Explore "A Crime on Canvas" by Fred M. White on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
WATNEY expressed no particular surprise; he was too astute a journalist for that. Very gravely he approached the picture and proceeded to examine it closely and carefully through his gold-rimmed glasses. As a matter of fact, he was revelling in the problem which was slowly unfolding itself before him. It had been his business from time to time on behalf of his paper to take a hand in the solution of all kinds of queer and out-of-the-way crimes; indeed, the subject fascinated him, just as certain people are bitten by the somewhat dangerous mania for chess. At various times in his career he had been instrumental in cutting the Gordian knot of crime, but never had he come into touch with anything at once so strange and so fascinating as this. The inspector watched him keenly.
"Well," that official said impatiently, "what do you make of it? Come, Mr. Watney, you have had some experience. You don't mean to tell me that you regard this as commonplace?"