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Page 19
"Well, suppose we go and see."
Gatton led the way and I followed up the stairs as fair as the first
landing. Here I paused in amazement For at this point all attempts at
furnishing ceased. The landing was quite bare and so were the stairs
above it! Seeing my expression of incredulous surprise:
"Yes," said Gatton, smiling, "it's a strange arrangement, isn't it?"
We descended again to the furnished hall.
"Look here," continued my companion.
He unlocked a door on the left, having tried several keys from the
bunch which he carried without success, but finally discovering the
right one.
A long rectangular room was revealed, evidently intended for a
dining-room. It was empty and unfurnished, odds and ends of newspaper
and other rubbish lying here and there upon the floor. My astonishment
was momentarily increasing. A second door, that in the center, Gatton
opened, revealing another empty room, but:
"I have reserved this one for the last," he said: "you will find that
it is unlocked."
He pointed to the third door, that on the right, and as he evidently
intended me to open it, I stepped forward, turned the handle and
entered a small square room, exquisitely furnished.
A heavy Persian carpet was spread upon the floor and the windows were
draped with some kind of brightly colored Madras. Tastefully-framed
water-colors hung upon the wall. There was a quaint cabinet in the
room, too; a low cushioned settee and two armchairs. In the center was
a table upon which stood a lamp with a large mosaic shade. Two
high-backed chairs were set to the table--and the table was laid for
supper! A bottle of wine stood in an ice-pail, in which the ice had
long since melted, and a tempting cold repast was spread. The table
was decorated with a bowl of perfect white roses. The silver was good;
the napery was snowy.
Like a fool I stood gaping at the spectacle, until, noting the
direction of Gatton's glance, I turned my attention to the mantelpiece
upon which a clock was ticking with a dull and solemn note.
Standing beside the clock, in a curious carved frame, was a large
photograph of Isobel!
CHAPTER VI
THE VOICE
"This is where the mystery centers," said Gatton.
I made no reply, for I had not yet recovered from the shock of that
discovery in the deserted supper room. It was so wholly unexpected and
yet it so cruelly confirmed the Inspector's undisguised suspicions
that it seemed to me to have created a sort of impalpable barrier
between us. Of this Gatton was evidently conscious. He endeavored to
arouse my interest in the inquiries which he was conducting in the
garage, but for long enough I saw nothing of the place in which we
stood; I could only see that photograph smiling at me inquiringly
through a haze of doubt, and my companion's words reached me in a
muffled fashion. Finally, however, I succeeded in rousing myself from
this dazed condition, and confident as ever that Isobel was innocent
of all complicity in the matter:
"The presence of the photograph," I said, "takes us a step further.
Don't you see, Inspector, that this is a deeply and cunningly laid
trap? What I had taken for a series of unfortunate coincidences I
perceive now to be the workings of an elaborate scheme involving
perfectly innocent people in the crime."
"H'm," said Gatton doubtfully; "it may be as you suggest; at any rate
it is a new point of view and one which I confess had not occurred to
me. There is one witness who can clear up any doubt on the subject."
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