Chapter 13

A Startling Discovery

In due time Adrian, feeling depressed and dreary, departed by the early train to Marlow, leaving Dentham in charge of the house at Hampstead. He expected Miss Maunders and Mr. Rudall to call about mid-day, but, prior to their arrival, made an exploration of the sitting-room on his own account, with a view to finding out, if possible, the secret chamber, which Rudall said must exist. But Dentham, though crafty enough in small villanies, was woefully ill-fitted for such a task, and after an hour's hard work, during which he examined the most unlikely places, gave up the search in disgust. If he had calmly sat down and logically argued the matter out, he might have come to some satisfactory conclusion, but, instead of doing this, he hunted about in blind confusion, with the natural result that nothing came of his work.

"It's all bosh," muttered Dentham to himself, sitting on a chair and mopping his heated brow. "I don't believe there's any such place—it's my opinion the old cove's killed Mr. Lancaster, and hid his body in the garden."

His meditations were brought to an end by the arrival of Olive and Teddy Rudall, both of whom were in a state of suppressed excitement as to the issue of their plan to examine the house during the absence of its owner.

"I say, you know," said Rudall, when they were seated in the room for a rest preparatory to beginning their search, "we've no right to do this sort of thing without a search-warrant."

"Oh, that doesn't matter," replied Olive, with that sublime disregard for the majesty of the law, which the feminine sex sometimes display. "Dr. Roversmire will never know anything about it, unless we find something, and then he'll have enough to do in clearing himself, without bothering about the search."

"You don't think he'll come up unbeknown, mum?" asked Dentham uneasily, for he had a wholesome dread of his mysterious master.

"No! you can set your mind at rest on that point," said Olive decisively, "he has no suspicions of our visit here, and will stay down at Marlow till the evening—even if he did wish to return he could not arrive back here for at least two hours, and that will give us plenty of time."

"I hope so, mum," answered Dentham respectfully, rubbing his hands together; "but it's like looking for a needle in a bundle of hay. I've hunted everywhere in the room, and can't find any signs of a secret door."

"No doubt you went blindly to work, without considering the situation," said Teddy cheerfully; "the first thing to be ascertained is how this room lies."

"What do you mean, sir?" asked Dentham in a puzzled tone.

"I'll explain later on," answered Teddy, "but before doing so, we are agreed upon one thing, that Adrian Lancaster came to this room and never left it."

"To all appearances—yes," assented Olive promptly.

"I'd better state the case exactly," observed Rudall cautiously, "so that we may run no chance of making any mistake; the facts, as we have gathered them, are simply these—Adrian Lancaster disappeared from his rooms in Piccadilly about three weeks ago; we hear nothing of him till this man comes to us and produces a walking-stick, which we both recognise as Adrian's property—it was found in this room, so the presumption is that on the night of his disappearance Adrian was here. Dentham heard the murmur of voices, and asserts positively that Lancaster could not have left the room by that door leading to the passage, or he would have heard him."

"Yes!—easily," said Dentham emphatically.

"On the other hand," resumed Teddy learnedly, "the night in question was wet, and Dentham traced Lancaster's footsteps more or less clearly from the garden door to that window which leads on to the lawn—but, although he looked carefully, he could find no footmarks leading away from the house, so that, having left neither by the door nor the window, it stands to reason he could not have gone at all. Under these circumstances the most logical conclusion is that he did not leave this room. We cannot see him, and, as none of us are foolish enough to believe in the theory of disintegration, he must be concealed somewhere in a secret chamber, the entrance to which is from this room. Now what we have to do is to find this entrance."

"Yes, but how?" asked Dentham dispiritedly.

"First by finding out the position of this room," said Teddy, rising to his feet and glancing round; "two sides of it are bounded by the outside walls, and as they do not appear to me to be thick enough to contain any hiding place, we may be certain that the secret door can be in neither of them—the third wall stands between this room and the passage, so that the same objection applies—now what about the fourth wall in the centre of which is built the chimney?"

"There is a room beyond; the same as this," explained Dentham.

"In that case the objection applies to the whole four walls," said Rudall ruefully. "What about the roof?"

"My bedroom is above it."

"Humph! in that case Lancaster cannot certainly have gone heavenward—and the floor?"

"There's a cellar below this!"

"A cellar!" ejaculated Teddy thoughtfully. "That looks more promising—let us examine the cellar."

"I think it would be better to look at the floor first," suggested Olive, "for Adrian can't have got into the cellar without some mode of exit."

The floor was of polished wood, consisting of narrow planks laid horizontally, and these were partly covered here and there with Turkish mats. Collecting these in a heap, Teddy and Dentham made a thorough examination, but were quite unable to find any trapdoor

through which entrance could have been gained into the cellar.

"Is the cellar open to anyone?" asked Rudall rising to his feet and dusting the knees of his trousers.

"Yes, sir," answered Dentham quickly. "I'm out and in it a dozen times a day, there's wood and coal stored there."

"Doesn't seem much use examining the cellar!"

"In that case I fail to see that there can be any secret hiding-place," said Olive in despair. "You are quite sure, Dentham, you did not hear the doctor or Mr. Lancaster leave the room."

"Quite sure, mum," replied Dentham decisively, "my room is above, but I wasn't in it, as I came out and looked over the stairs, so if either of 'em left the room I'd have seen as well as heard."

"Then," observed Olive disconsolately, "this disintegration theory—"

"Is all bosh," interrupted Teddy angrily. "I don't believe in theosophy, and as I told you, even if they can disintegrate bodies they can only meddle with their own and not with those of other people—there must be some secret hiding-place to which the entrance is from this room."

"But where?" demanded Olive, "walls, roof and floor all give no clue."

Teddy fastened his eyes upon the chimney.

"What about the fireplace," he asked, going over to it and surveying its cumbersome proportions.

"Oh, there's nothing there, sir," said Dentham with a wriggle of scorn.

"I don't know so much about that," replied Teddy, "see, there's a half-burnt candle on the mantelpiece."

"He always had a candle," said Dentham, referring to his master. "Why, I don't know, as there was lots of gas-light."

"Always had a candle," murmured Rudall thoughtfully, "humph—I dare say it was to light the way to the lower regions—what is under the flooring of the next room," he added, turning to Dentham.

"Nothing, sir, except earth! the cellar below here was dug out, I think, sir."

Teddy gave a cry of delight.

"Then depend upon it there is a secret chamber under the next room, and the entrance to it is from this chimney-piece."

"Impossible!" said Olive, rising and coming forward.

"It's the most reasonable explanation I can offer at all events," said Teddy, "suppose we examine the fireplace."

Dentham and Miss Maunders, now very much excited at the chance of a possible discovery, assisted, and Teddy began to make a minute inspection of the fireplace.

It consisted of an ordinary steel grate, surrounded by a bordering of encaustic tiles, and the mantelpiece was a heavy oaken one, elaborately carved with fruit and flowers. Although Teddy pushed and shook the grate it remained immovable and there certainly seemed no possibility that such a heavy mass could be moved at all.

"Perhaps there's a spring," suggested Olive, and began to feel among the carvings of the mantelpiece with deft fingers. The attempt proved successful, for by chance her fingers came in contact with the spring; there was a click as she pressed it, almost involuntarily, and the three present gave a cry of surprise as the whole of the grate swung round upon a central pivot, disclosing the space beyond.

"I knew I was right," cried Teddy in ecstasy, "this leads to some secret chamber, and I would not be surprised if we found Adrian Lancaster a prisoner below."

Olive turned pale as he lighted the candle and bending down crept into the black cavity. At first she feared to follow in his steps, but her love for Adrian prevailed and she cautiously entered also. Dentham, who was shaking in every limb with terror at this strange discovery, remained in the room, but when Teddy and his companion disappeared down the narrow steps his curiosity got the better of his fear and he groped his way in the same direction.

"Is this the secret chamber?" asked Olive in a disappointed tone, when they found themselves in the square vault.

"I don't think so," replied Teddy doubtfully, holding the candle above his head, "or surely Roversmire would have made it more comfortable."

"There may be another door," suggested Miss Maunders hopefully, "examine the walls."

Teddy did so, and running his hand rapidly down on the smooth surface of the stone, he felt a round button which he pressed with all his strength and immediately the blank wall before them seemed to disappear, showing only a dense black space.

"Dentham," cried Teddy on seeing this, "go and get more candles or a lamp." Upon which Dentham sped rapidly up the steps without being required to be told twice.

"Adrian," cried Olive peering forward into the darkness, dimly lighted by the glimmer of the candle, "are you there?"

No voice answered, and in vague terror the girl caught Teddy by the hand.

"Oh! do you think he is dead?" she whispered!

"I don't know," he replied blankly; "perhaps he is not here, or there may be some more doors to open. See, here is Dentham, with two more lights."

Olive took one of the candles, and headed by Teddy the little band went forward along the narrow passage and at length found themselves in the circular vault, which looked weird and spectral-looking with its strange decorations.

"Looks like the cave of a magician," said Teddy, slowly waving his light to and fro. "Hullo, what's up?"

His sudden exclamation was caused by Dentham, who had dropped his candle, and with chattering teeth, shaking limbs and pale face, pointed to a dark form extended on a couch. With a cry of terror Olive rushed forward and held the light close to the figure's face, and fell on her knees with a shriek.

"It's Adrian!—Adrian!—and he's dead."

"Dead!" echoed Rudall in an awed tone, "impossible."

"No, it's true; quite true," she shrieked, setting her candle down on the floor. "His limbs are cold, his eyes are closed, and I can't feel his heart beat."

"Roversmire may have thrown him into a trance," said Rudall reassuringly, who in the face of this strange discovery was willing now to credit Roversmire with all kinds of superhuman powers, "here, Miss Maunders, take up your candle and hold mine—Dentham and myself will carry—the—I mean will carry Adrian upstairs to the light." Almost overcome by grief, Olive was yet sufficiently mistress of herself to do what he asked, and arose to her feet, holding a light in each hand, while the tears she was unable to wipe away streamed down her pale face.

"Come on," said Teddy, seeing that Dentham, overcome with fear, made no move, "take Mr. Lancaster by the head."

"I dare not," whispered Dentham, shrinking back, "he's dead."

"How do you know he is dead?" said Rudall, angrily, "he may be only in a trance—do what I tell you, or I'll thrash you within an inch of your life."

On hearing this Dentham with manifest reluctance did as he was told, but gave a shudder of fear as he seized the inert feet of the figure on the couch. Teddy held up the head, and, preceded by Olive with the lights, the two men with great difficulty managed to carry the body upstairs to the sitting-room.

Olive's courage sustained her thus far, but when she saw Adrian's body lying on the floor stiff and cold, she let the candles fall from her hands and flung herself down in a paroxysm of sorrow.

"Oh, Adrian!—Adrian!" she wailed, clasping one cold hand, "he is dead!—dead!"

"Nonsense," said Teddy roughly, kneeling beside the still form, "if he were dead, symptoms of decay would have set in long ago—he's not dead, I tell you, but in a trance."

The girl dried her eyes, summoned up all her courage, and arose to her feet.

"Are you certain he is not dead?" she asked breathlessly.

"It's rather difficult to say," answered Teddy, rising also and leading her to a seat, "but we'll send at once for a doctor and, meantime, you must have a glass of wine. Dentham, get some wine for Miss Maunders."

Dentham disappeared and, meantime, Teddy comforted Olive as well as he was able.

"I'm sure he's in a trance," he insisted quietly, "look how firm and healthy the flesh looks. If he were really dead he would not look like this after three weeks."

Here Dentham returned with the wine and Teddy made the girl take a good glass of it.

"Dentham," he said, when Olive grew more composed, "go down to the police station and send the police here. Then come back with a doctor as hard as you can."

Dentham took the money Teddy held out towards him, and, putting on his hat, left the house chuckling quietly to himself.

"Yes, I'll get the police and the doctor," he muttered, as he walked rapidly down the road, "and I'll telegraph to the old cove at Marlow. It's just as I thought. He's killed Mr. Lancaster, so as soon as he knows the body is found, I'll be able to fix him up, and I won't let him off unless he pays me jolly well."