登陆注册
15386700000039

第39章

The lock snapped back easily and he pulled the door back.He found the inner door bolted top and bottom.The bolts slipped back in their well-oiled sockets without any effort.Evidently Kara used this place pretty frequently, thought T.X.

He pushed the door open and stopped with an exclamation of surprise.The cellar apartment was brilliantly lit - but it was unoccupied.

"This beats the band," said T.X.

He saw something on the table and lifted it up.It was a pair of long-bladed scissors and about the handle was wound a handkerchief.It was not this fact which startled him, but that the scissors' blades were dappled with blood and blood, too, was on the handkerchief.He unwound the flimsy piece of cambric and stared at the monogram "B.M.B."He looked around.Nobody had seen the weapon and he dropped it in his overcoat pocket, and walked from the cellar to the kitchen where Mrs.Beale and Mansus awaited him.

"There is a lower cellar, is there not!" he asked in a strained voice.

"That was bricked up when Mr.Kara took the house," explained the woman.

"There is nothing more to look for here," he said.

He walked slowly up the stairs to the library, his mind in a whirl.That he, an accredited officer of police, sworn to the business of criminal detection, should attempt to screen one who was conceivably a criminal was inexplicable.But if the girl had committed this crime, how had she reached Kara's room and why had she returned to the locked cellar!

He sent for Mrs.Beale to interrogate her.She had heard nothing and she had been in the kitchen all the evening.One fact she did reveal, however, that Fisher had gone from the kitchen and had been absent a quarter of an hour and had returned a little agitated.

"Stay here," said T.X., and went down again to the cellar to make a further search.

"Probably there is some way out of this subterranean jail," he thought and a diligent search of the room soon revealed it.

He found the iron trap, pulled it open, and slipped down the stairs.He, too, was puzzled by the luxurious character of the vault.He passed from room to room and finally came to the inner chamber where a light was burning.

The light, as he discovered, proceeded from a small reading lamp which stood by the side of a small brass bedstead.The bed had recently been slept in, but there was no sign of any occupant.T.

X.conducted a very careful search and had no difficulty in finding the bricked up door.Other exits there were none.

The floor was of wood block laid on concrete, the ventilation was excellent and in one of the recesses which had evidently held at so time or other, a large wine bin, there was a prefect electrical cooking plant.In a small larder were a number of baskets, bearing the name of a well-known caterer, one of them containing an excellent assortment of cold and potted meats, preserves, etc.

T.X.went back to the bedroom and took the little lamp from the table by the side of the bed and began a more careful examination.

Presently he found traces of blood, and followed an irregular trail to the outer room.He 1ost it suddenly at the foot of stairs leading down from the upper cellar.Then he struck it again.He had reached the end of his electric cord and was now depending upon an electric torch he hid taken from his pocket.

There were indications of something heavy having been dragged across the room and he saw that it led to a small bathroom.He had made a cursory examination of this well-appointed apartment, and now he proceeded to make a close investigation and was well rewarded.

The bathroom was the only apartment which possess anything resembling a door - a two-fold screen and - as he pressed this back, he felt some thing which prevented its wider extension.He slipped into the room and flashed his lamp in the space behind the screen.There stiff in death with glazed eyes and lolling tongue lay a great gaunt dog, his yellow fangs exposed in a last grimace.

About the neck was a collar and attached to that, a few links of broken chain.T.X.mounted the steps thoughtfully and passed out to the kitchen.

Did Belinda Mary stab Kara or kill the dog? That she killed one hound or the other was certain.That she killed both was possible.

同类推荐
  • 重阳教化集

    重阳教化集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 旧闻证误

    旧闻证误

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 声调谱

    声调谱

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 玄要篇

    玄要篇

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 佛说不空罥索咒经

    佛说不空罥索咒经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 婚色荡漾:腹黑君少太狂野

    婚色荡漾:腹黑君少太狂野

    一夜之间,姐夫变成了丈夫。赵嘉悦背负着“荡妇”的骂名,千夫所指。夏奕骋将她困在怀里,轻咬她的耳朵。“委屈吗?”赵嘉悦的脸埋在他颈后,水眸氤氲,却还是坚定地摇摇头。其实她比姐姐更早认识他,只是他忘了。
  • 音乐王朝

    音乐王朝

    杰出的创作家?出色的歌手?独霸一方的上市总裁?还是心狠手辣的枭雄?音乐宅男变身音乐霸主,只手遮天,独霸王朝。
  • 易烊千玺:未怜见双子

    易烊千玺:未怜见双子

    其实只是差一些解释其实只是少一点时间……其实只是我们——欢迎关注《易烊千玺:未怜见双子》
  • 净土警语

    净土警语

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 青少年应该知道的自然资源保护

    青少年应该知道的自然资源保护

    本书对世界各种资源作了大致的介绍,更详尽地讲述了各种稀有的动植物资源,以及人类和自然资源之间的密切关系。
  • 修罗战纪

    修罗战纪

    世道纷乱,人心不安。一个有点无耻有点怕死偶尔善良偶尔疯狂的少年来到这个复杂战乱不休的世界!他该怎么活下去……你觉得什么不能被摧毁,那么我...便毁给你看!这世道,需要的不是容忍,是爆发是摧枯拉朽的毁灭,然后…在我手上浴火重生《桑德语录》求收藏,点击,推荐,在此拜谢!
  • 呆萌青梅:腹黑竹马要扑倒

    呆萌青梅:腹黑竹马要扑倒

    【宠文甜文1V1】自打从小搬家成为了景逸的邻居,小倾晨就注定一世逃不掉景逸的磨爪了。“逸哥哥,你要一辈子宠倾晨好不好”“乖…你知道一辈子是什么概念吗”“一辈子不就是像这样你是我家邻居嘛”“逸哥哥你这么帅给倾晨亲亲好不好”“不不不,这是只有给未来媳妇的”“那我做你媳妇好不好”景逸勾唇一笑。后来,景逸知道了“南风过境,十里春风不如你”是什么概念。那便是逸生一倾晨。
  • 心术上

    心术上

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 沉淀于光阴的碎片

    沉淀于光阴的碎片

    她,5岁那年父母因车祸去世,房屋被拿去抵债,父亲的公司面临破产。而她,唯一的生存之路就是去孤儿院。对于小小的她来说,这里是一个全新的世界,她害怕这里的一切。这里没有父母的疼爱,没有一个她认识的朋友。直到遇见他,她的生活发生了翻天覆地的变化。
  • 蛇灵秘录

    蛇灵秘录

    半夜里,我前往坟墓守灵。看到了一条巨大的银环蛇,我想跑,但是未婚妻却逼我躺在棺材里喂蛇,我不从……她居然拿钱砸我!