The Red Room

by William Le Queux

upon the tiled floor.

  Full of fear and trembling, I glanced to the corner in which I had seenthe Professor's huddled-up body; but my heart gave a quick bound of joy.It was not there!

  Already evidences of the double tragedy had been removed. Was it forthat reason, in order to remove them, that Kershaw Kirk had been there?

  "Why!" exclaimed Langton. "Look! the furnace is alight. The Professorcertainly cannot be in Scotland!"

  I glanced to the left where he had indicated, and saw that thegood-sized brick furnace built in the right-hand wall, in which, bymeans of a great electric fan, the Professor could generate, by forceddraught, the intense heat he sometimes required for his experiments, wasaglow. A fierce fire had evidently been burning there, but it was nowslowly dying out. The warmth of the laboratory and of the brickwork ofthe furnace showed that the draught fan must have been used.

  "I wonder what the Professor has been doing to-day?" remarked theinspector, examining the place with considerable curiosity.

  "I wonder rather what intruders have been doing here!" exclaimedLangton. "You forget that both doors have been forced."

  The inspector stood gazing round the place in silent wonder.

  "Well," he exclaimed at last, "I don't see the slightest evidence ofburglars here, sir."

  "They may be hidden upstairs," suggested the young man. "Remember thereare many people very anxious to obtain knowledge of the Professor'sdiscoveries. That is why he is always so careful to keep these doorslocked. His daughter, Ethelwynn, is the only person he ever allows inhere. He and she even carry in the coal for the furnace, the servantsbeing excluded."

  "But thieves would hardly light up the furnace!" said the officer.

  "Unless they wished to destroy something in the fire," responded theother.

  That suggestion held me aghast. Upon me, like a flash, came theastounding suspicion that that furnace might have been lit for thepurpose of destroying the evidence of the mysterious crime. Iremembered Kirk's curious and guarded response when I had referred tothe burial of the body.

  Was this, then, the reason why I had found him alone in the house?

  I stood staggered by the suggestion.

  I was near the furnace--nearer than the others.

  Then, when I found speech again, I said:

  "If there are intruders in this place, they could not have escaped; theymust certainly be upstairs. I agree with Mr. Langton that it iscertainly very curious that these doors should have been forced."

  "How did you know that the Professor is in Scotland?" he inquired of meeagerly.

  In an instant I had a ready reply.

  "Antonio told me so when I called on Monday."

  "Did he say when his master would be back?" asked the inspector.

  "He said he expected him to return last night, as he had an engagementto go with his daughter to a ball."

  "Then he may have returned and gone to the dance," remarked the officer."He may also have lost his keys and been compelled to break open thedoors--quite a likely circumstance. Three persons dined downstairsto-night. He and his daughter and a friend probably dined andafterwards went out; while the servants, knowing they would not returnbefore midnight, may have followed them out to spend the evening. Thatat least is my theory at the present."

  "That certainly seems to be the most logical conclusion, inspector," Iremarked.

  "We must search the upper premises before I accept it," exclaimedLangton, who, I could see, was still very suspicious that somethingunusual had happened. The meeting with Antonio in the buffet at Calaishad caused him to doubt, and most naturally so.

  My eager eyes were fixed upon the glowing furnace, the large, square,iron door of which was still red-hot, though the heat was nowdecreasing. At the side was a large air-shaft, in which were fittedelectric fans, while on the wall were three switches by which a strongforced draught could be obtained.

  Before the furnace door was a portion of the tiled floor railed off, toprevent the cinders from being trodden about, and in there I saw aquantity of ashes. At the side were several large crucibles, one ofwhich, still gripped by the iron tongs or holders, contained some metalwhich looked like steel.

  Carelessly I made a tour of the place, passing the corner where had lainthe Professor's body. I saw that all traces of blood had been carefullyremoved from the tiles. No one would suspect that any tragedy hadoccurred there.

  Was this Kirk's work? Had the man who had such a contempt for thepolice--whom he denounced as red-taped blunderers--succeeded in removingall trace of the crime?

  If so, was not that sufficient proof of his own guilt? Was he notfooling me when, all the time, he was the actual assassin?

  Every fresh fact as presented in that house that night increased ratherthan elucidated the mystery.

  I longed to take the dead girl's lover into my confidence and tell him,there and then, all I knew, just as I have told you; but I hesitated.Had I not given my word of honour to be silent? And, moreover, like aconfounded fool, I had allowed Kirk to escape!

  So now, more than ever, were my lips sealed. I was bound hand and foot.

  In a few moments the four men passed out of the laboratory, while I, asI had done below, remained behind for a moment.

  I stood before the furnace peering into the ashes.

  I saw there something which they had overlooked, or, if they had seenit, could convey nothing to them.

  Among those grey ashes lay a black horn overcoat button!

  This I snatched up and transferred to my pocket.

  Had that bottle of acid been purposely smashed in order to dispel anyunpleasant odour arising from the furnace?

  I longed to throw myself upon my knees and examine those ashes, but,alas! I dare not.

  So I was compelled to follow my companions, rigid and speechless.

  CHAPTER TEN.

  LEONARD LANGTON MAKES A STATEMENT.

  Search of the upper portion of the premises revealed nothing--nothing,at least, to arouse the undue suspicions of the searchers.

  My eager glance was everywhere, but I discerned nothing further of anunusual nature. The one great truth had become impressed upon me thatthe man Kirk, madman or master criminal, had got rid of the evidences ofhis crime.

  He must have disposed of the poor girl's body in the same manner as thatof her father!

  I recollected that when seated with him in Bath Road, Bedford Park, hehad admitted that he possessed another home. Was it in Foley Street,that squalid house where I had heard a woman's frantic screams?

  I knew my duty, yet I still hesitated to perform it. My duty as a goodcitizen was to tell the police, openly and frankly, all that I knew.Yet if I did so, would I be believed? Now, after I had allowed them tosearch the place, I should, if I spoke, surely be suspected of trying toshield myself.

  No, having assumed an attitude of ignorance, I saw I was now compelledto retain it. Kirk, clever, crafty, and far-seeing, had mostingeniously sealed my lips.

  Yet why, if he were the actual criminal, had he taken me, a perfectstranger, into his confidence? And again, what connection could theEckhardt tyre have with the strange affair?

  Who were those two mysterious callers who had followed his visit, andwhom Pelham had seen? What could have been their object?

  I stood in the large drawing-room listening to the discussion betweenthe searchers, who had now returned there disappointed.

  "I can only repeat, sir," remarked the inspector, addressing Langton,"that you must have been mistaken regarding the light in the window ofthe next room."

  "I'm certain I was not," replied the young man doggedly. "Someone wasin this house--someone who, when I rang, extinguished the light andescaped!"

  "But how could he have escaped?" queried the officer.

  "Ah! that's the mystery. By the roof, perhaps."

  "The trap-door is bolted on the inside," declared the constable; "Iexamined it, sir."

  "Or by a window leading out on to some leads
somewhere?" I suggested.

  "There are no windows unfastened by which anyone could have escaped,"the sergeant exclaimed; "I've looked at them all."

  "Well," exclaimed the young man with a puzzled air, "nothing will everconvince me that I've brought you all here upon a fool's errand. Istill maintain that something unusual has happened. Why has Antoniofled to France?"

  "We must ask the Professor," replied the inspector. "He may have beensent by his master upon perfectly legitimate business. He was entirelytrusted, you say."

  "But he saw me in the buffet at Calais, and, turning, hurried away,"Langton said. "In other circumstances he would certainly have raisedhis hat in greeting; he is a most polite, tactful man."

  "Well, sir," laughed the officer, "I don't think we can assist you anyfurther. Just go out,