showing signs of great neglect. The rooms were barely furnished, and their
first cursory search revealed no traces of habitation. There was still the
broken skylight in the room which Lenora had occupied, and the bed upon
which she had slept was still crumpled. French, who had been tapping the
walls downstairs, called to them. They trooped down into the hall. The
Inspector was standing before what appeared to be an ordinary panel.

"Look here," he said, glancing out of the corner of his eye to be sure
that Laura was there, "let me show you what I have just discovered."

He felt with his thumb for a spring. In a moment or two a portion of the
wall, about two feet in extent, slowly revolved, disclosing a small
cupboard fitted with a telephone instrument.

"A telephone," the Inspector remarked, pointing to it, "in an unoccupied
house and a concealed cupboard. What do you think of that?"

The Professor shook his head.

"Don't ask me," he groaned.

French took the receiver from its rest and called up the exchange.

"Inspector French speaking," he announced. "Kindly tell me what is the
number of the telephone from which I am speaking, and who is the
subscriber?"

He listened to the reply and asked another question.

"Can you tell me when this instrument was last used?... When?... Thank
you!"

The Inspector hung up the receiver.

"The subscriber's name," he told them drily, "is Brown. The number is not
entered in the book, by request. The telephone was used an hour ago from a
call office, and connection was established. That is to say that some one
spoke from this telephone."

"Then if your men have maintained their search properly, that some one,"
Quest said slowly, "must be in the house at the present moment."

"Without a doubt," the Inspector agreed. "I should like to suggest," he
went on, "that the two young ladies wait for us now in the automobile. If
this man turns out as desperate as he has shown himself ingenious, there
may be a little trouble."

They both protested vigorously. Quest shrugged his shoulders.

"They must decide for themselves," he said. "Personally, I like Lenora,
who has had less experience of such adventures, to grow accustomed to
danger.... With your permission, Inspector, I am going to search the front
room on the first floor before we do anything else. I think that if you
wait here I may be able to show you something directly."

Quest ascended the stairs and entered a wholly unfu