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Page 34
"He may be," replied Gatton; "anyway there are two C.I.D. men there
for certain, so that 'A' will do well to be upon his guard."
A few moments later I found myself again in the lounge-hall of the Red
House; and the place now seemed to me to have taken on an air of
oppressive mystery. In the very deserted silence of the house I
detected something sinister. Of course, no doubt this was merely an
effect created upon my mind by the ghastly associations of the place;
but I know that whereas on the previous day surprise and curiosity had
been the most characteristic emotions aroused by our discoveries
there, this morning something darker seemed to have taken their place;
and I found myself listening for a sound that never came and wondering
vaguely and vainly, what secret was hidden in this desolate mansion.
By Gatton's orders the room in which that gruesome supper was laid had
been left undisturbed and once more we stood surveying the spotless
napery and sparkling silver. I listened to the ticking of the clock
upon the mantelpiece and stared dully at the wine resting in the
ice-pail which now contained nothing but dirty water. A big dish of
fruit stood upon the table, peaches and apricots and nectarines; and
several large wasps had entered through one of the windows which some
one had opened, and were buzzing sleepily around the dish.
Lastly--there beside the clock stood Isobel's photograph.
For any evidence of a struggle I looked in vain, but the nature of my
companion's investigation was more obscure. Again the whole of his
attention seemed to be directed upon the wall, the window-ledges and
the door-frame. Suddenly:
"Ah," I said, "I know what you are looking for! Some connection
between this room and the garage?"
Gatton, who was kneeling examining a lower panel of the door, looked
up with a grim smile.
"Perhaps I am," he replied.
By the tone of his voice I knew that whatever he had sought he had
failed once more to find. Presently, desisting from this quest of his,
he stood and stared curiously for some time at a recess immediately
behind one of the high-backed chairs drawn up to the supper table. We
had already explored this recess and had found it to be vacant. Gatton
advanced towards it and drew aside the curtain which was draped in the
opening.
It was a recess about four feet wide by three deep and it contained
nothing in the nature of furniture or ornament.
"Does anything strike you as curious about this arrangement?" said my
companion.
I looked for a long time, but failed to detect anything of a notable
nature.
"Nothing," I said, "except that it seems a peculiar idea to drape a
curtain before a recess in that way."
"And such a curtain!" said Gatton, fingering the texture.
I in turn touched the material with my fingers and found it to be an
extremely heavy velvet. Looking upward, I noticed that it was attached
to a rod set so high in the wall on either side that the top of the
drapery actually touched the ceiling.
"Well," said Gatton, looking at me oddly, "in addition to the texture
of the curtain do you notice anything else?"
"No," I confessed.
"Well," he continued, "you may remember that yesterday when I examined
this place, I had to drape the curtain over a chair, which I moved
here for the purpose, in order to see the recess."
"So you did," I said; "I remember."
"Well, doesn't it strike you as odd? If you'll notice the way it is
fastened above, you will see that it is not upon rings. In other words
it is not intended to be opened. You see that it is in one piece so
that anybody having occasion to enter the recess would have to lift it
aside and let it fall to behind him."
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