Arthur had previously thought of two ways to pass messages unnoticed on Garden Street, using Hite Furniture Store itself as an example.
First, rearrange the furniture displayed outside the entrance, using different arrangements to convey different messages.
Second, draw or open the window curtains a few minutes early in the mornings or evenings.
However, while these methods seemed discreet, they actually placed certain requirements on the recipient.
They had to be able to pass by without attracting attention.
Under ordinary circumstances, that would naturally pose no problem.
But once Hite Furniture Store was under surveillance, that possibility ceased to exist-because the only people who met both conditions were nearby residents, newspaper boys, garbage collectors, and the like.
And Malinda's people already had their eyes on all of them.
So none of those methods would work.
Arthur had been trying to think of who else there might be besides those people.
But he had come up with nothing.
Then, when he saw Mrs. Amanda welcoming Linda with a steaming cup of tea, he finally understood why Hite had been so confident.
The signal was not the tea, of course.
It was the steam!
Or, more precisely...
Smoke!
The smoke produced by everyday cooking!
And to lull the surrounding watchers into complacency, Hite had even used a Private Chef as cover-Arthur guessed that the order must have been for a large amount of food, too much to finish in one sitting, to explain the smoke produced when lighting a fire to reheat dinner. In fact, to make the cover more convincing, Hite should have placed an initial order yesterday after leaving the Shire District Police Department, praised a particular dish, and then ordered a much larger portion today.
Once Arthur understood the key, he lowered his voice and spoke to Edwin.
"Smoke!"