This was a second-floor plan of
the very house I had been exploring. Although I had not been up-stairs
yet, I had seen enough of the relative positions of the different rooms
to recognize the one indicated by the cross.

It was the bath room.

[1] Dr. De Breen figures conspicuously in the remarkable case of Estes
Lamar, chronicled in the third volume of Inspector Swift's
"Reminiscences."

CHAPTER X

THE SECOND STORY

The reader will have observed, very likely, that up to the present I
have made no mention of a close examination of the second story, nor,
moreover, of having ascended the stairs above the balcony-like landing
with its grewsome burden.

Such was indeed the case; and while my failure in this regard might
argue neglect, or at least a strange lack of system, I can only point
out that the entire sequence of events, from the moment of my arrival
at the house, had been most unusual.

It is rare that so many divagations become inevitable. I was obliged
to acquaint myself with the circumstances as they forced themselves
upon me, and not as if I had been free to ferret them out in accordance
with any customary course of procedure. All along I had been impatient
to get up-stairs; but first one thing and then another had arisen,
demanding immediate attention. We shall soon learn, however, how my
search in the second story was rewarded. While the results may appear
not very significant, they were nevertheless of vast importance in
pointing a way to the riddle's answer.

For, mind, although I was reasonably sure that the ruby represented the
motive for the murder, I had been given a number of reasons for
believing that this motive involved a plot infinitely farther-reaching
than the determination of some common thief or housebreaker to secure
the gem. If I wanted to fix responsibility for Mr. Page's cruel death,
I would be obliged to lay bare the controlling cause in all its
ramifications. Whether Maillot or Burke was the guilty man, it was at
this stage of vital consequence that the State's Attorney be given
light upon every factor in the tragedy; and as this was my business, it
is not surprising that I was animated with an ambition to make a
thorough job of the matter.

And furthermore, I was satisfied that the Paternoster ruby had not yet
been removed from the house, wherever the murderer might be--a belief
which I was very shortly to have strengthened by certain seemingly
unimportant i