The Red Room

by William Le Queux

plainlybetrayed his intense agitation and anxiety not to come face to face withthe dead girl's lover. "I'll try and see you to-morrow or next day.Remain in patience till you hear from me. Good-bye."

  And the next instant he ran lightly down the steps and sped away to theleft, out of sight. All this had happened within three minutes.

  Scarce had he disappeared, when Langton, accompanied by two constables,turned the corner, and found me on guard at the door. I feltbewildered. Kirk's sudden appearance at the door of that house ofmystery had taken me so aback that I had scarcely yet recovered. Didnot his admission that the faithful Antonio had left bear out Langton'sstory of having seen the fellow passing through the buffet at Calaisstation?

  The young man had, I saw, been explaining his suspicions to theconstables on their way to the house. I was glad that there was only ablank wall opposite, otherwise my action in allowing Kirk to leave theplace might easily have been observed and misconstrued.

  What, I wondered, was the reason of my strange friend being in therealone? Why had the lights been so suddenly extinguished when Langtonhad rung the bell? That he feared Langton was evident.

  Why?

  Within myself I resolved to put some guarded questions and ascertain, ifpossible, what Ethelwynn's lover knew of this man who had so ingeniouslydrawn me into that maelstrom of doubt and grim tragedy.

  The two constables were instantly on the alert. They examined the lockof the front door, conversing in low whispers, then, after a briefconsultation, one of the pair left hurriedly, in order to place a guardupon the front of the premises, overlooking the garden, which dividedthe crescent from the park.

  Presently he returned, accompanied by a brown-bearded sergeant, whorecognised Langton as having been witness in a motor-car accident inCumberland Terrace a couple of months before.

  The sergeant pressed the button of the electric bell for a long time,and though we waited anxiously there was, of course, no response.

  "I'm certain somebody is within," declared Langton excitedly; "I saw thelight quite distinctly."

  "Very well, sir, if you're certain," replied the sergeant gruffly,"we'll have to force an entry. But remember, if you're mistaken, itwill be a trifle awkward. The owner might come upon you for damage."

  "I'll stand the racket of all that," declared the young man readily."There are thieves in here, I'm certain."

  "It may be only a maid who has a visitor, and who believes her master,or young mistress, has returned," I suggested, full of apprehension atthe alarming discovery which must be made as soon as the police enteredand searched the place.

  "Then all the worse for her, sir," answered one of the constablesgrimly.

  And again they banged at the door and continued ringing. All, however,was silence and darkness.

  What would they have thought had they known that I had allowed themysterious Kirk, who had been lurking there, to escape?

  Had I acted foolishly in doing so? I was forced to the conclusion thatI had.

  While sergeant and constables were in counsel as to what course shouldbe adopted, an inspector, who had been warned by the constable on guardat the front, arrived, and was told Langton's story.

  "This is Professor Greer's," he remarked; "I think we'd better force anentry, sergeant. That basement window down there looks easy of access,"and he pointed to a window of the back-kitchen.

  "Yes," replied the bearded man addressed, as a constable shone hislantern down upon it, "we could break the glass and turn back the catch.There are no bars there."

  This course was quickly adopted. The inspector, taking one of the men'struncheons, tapped the glass lightly until he had cracked it, and thenpulled the pieces forward till he could insert his hand and release thecatch.

  The window thus opened, the two constables, truncheons in hand andlights turned on, crept into the kitchen and disappeared, while we stoodwaiting anxiously without, our ears strained in listening.

  A few moments later, one of the men threw open the front door, andtogether we entered the dark and silent house of mystery.

  I stood back, passing into the wide hall last of all. There was now nohiding the grim, astounding truth from police and public.

  I held my breath, awaiting the sensation that must be caused by thediscovery.

  As I anticipated, a discovery was made very quickly.

  But, strangely enough, it was not at all what I had looked for. It onlyadded further mystery to the altogether inscrutable problem.

  CHAPTER NINE.

  I DISCOVER SOMETHING.

  On the light being switched on in the dining-room, I held my breath,expecting that Langton would there find the body of the girl he loved.

  It had, however, been removed.

  The yellow cushion was still there, flung upon the leather couch wherethe unfortunate girl had lain, but there was no sign of any tragedyhaving been enacted.

  Strangely enough, however, a bright fire burned in the grate, while uponthe table were the remains of a repast--dinner, no doubt--of which threepersons had partaken. Dessert had been finished, and the threecoffee-cups had been drained, while about the room was a strong odour ofcigars.

  Who had been entertained there by Kirk?

  The set table did not, of course, strike any of my companions as at allunusual, and so they passed across to the morning-room on the oppositeside of the hall, one of the constables remaining at the foot of thestairs in order to prevent the escape of any persons who might besecreted in the house.

  In the dining-room I loitered, for I had noticed in the grate a quantityof burnt paper. Therefore, when I was alone, I stooped, and snatched upa few half-consumed scraps--leaves of a manuscript-book they appeared tobe. But at the moment, having no time to examine them, I crushed theminto the pocket of my jacket, and followed the quartet on their tour ofinvestigation.

  Every nook and corner, behind chairs, in cupboards, everywhere theysearched, expecting to discover somebody secreted. But they, of course,found the house untenanted.

  In the smaller drawing-room, where the clean-shaven young man hadnoticed the light, there was a fire burning and an odour of cigars,showing that some man or men had been in the room. What consultation, Iwondered, had taken place there?

  The large drawing-room--the room from whence the Professor hadsignalled--was cold and cheerless, while in the study nothing hadapparently been disarranged.

  "I think, sir," remarked the inspector to young Langton, "that you musthave been mistaken. I don't see any evidence of the presence of thieveshere. The master is away, and the servants are all out for thisevening. That's all."

  "But I'm quite certain there was a light when I first rang," declaredLangton.

  "Then if anyone was here, he or she must still be here," replied theofficer with a slightly incredulous smile, while at the same moment Irecollected that as dinner had been served in the dining-room, theremust also have been servants there during that evening.

  "Is there no other door--no back door?" I queried.

  "No," replied Langton promptly; "both front and back doors are in SussexPlace. The door leading to the park was bricked up by the Professor, ashe was always afraid that undesirable people might enter and steal thesecrets of his experiments. There are two locked doors leading to thelaboratory, of which he always keeps the keys. I'll show you them in amoment." And he led the way across the landing from the study to theboudoir.

  Here I noticed that the drawers of Miss Greer's little rosewoodescritoire stood open, and that upon the table was a miscellaneouscollection of odds and ends; letters, fancy needlework, and otherthings, as though a hasty search had been made among the dead girl'seffects. To me it appeared that whoever had been making theinvestigation had been disturbed in the act and had escaped.

  The police noticed it, while Langton exclaimed:

  "Look! Ethelwynn is usually so very tidy! Somebody has, no doubt, beenturning over her treasures. For what reason?" and he halted before theopen door leading to the pass
age to the laboratory. "Look!"

  Inspector, sergeant, and constable all looked, but saw nothing unusual.The door stood open--that was all.

  "Don't you see!" cried the young man excitedly. "This door--the doorwhich Professor Greer always keeps fastened--has been burst open.Somebody has been here! I was not mistaken after all!"

  And he made his way along the passage, opening the second door andentering the darkness of the great lofty room. The constable followedwith his lamp, while I held behind, knowing that in a few seconds theghastly truth must be discovered.

  Langton quickly found the switch, and the place was flooded with light.

  At the same moment a strong and pungent smell of some acid greeted ournostrils, causing us to catch our breath. It was due, we noticed, to abottle of some liquid which had been knocked off the table nearest us,and lay smashed