"You said there was no other way out!"
"There IS no other way, to my knowledge."
"Where's his room?"
Cumberly led the way to a room at the end of a short corridor, and Inspector Dunbar, entering, and turning up the light, glanced about the little apartment. It was a very neat servants' bedroom; with comfortable, quite simple, furniture; but the chest-of-drawers had been hastily ransacked, and the contents of a trunk—or some of its contents—lay strewn about the floor.
"He has packed his grip!" came Leroux's voice from the doorway. "It's gone!"
The window was wide open. Dunbar sprang forward and leaned out over the ledge, looking to right and left, above and below.
A sort of square courtyard was beneath, and for the convenience of tradesmen, a hand-lift was constructed outside the kitchens of the three flats comprising the house; i. e.:—Mr. Exel's, ground floor, Henry Leroux's second floor, and Dr. Cumberly's, top. It worked in a skeleton shaft which passed close to the left of Soames' window.
For an active man, this was a good enough ladder, and the inspector withdrew his head shrugging his square shoulders, irritably.
"My fault entirely!" he muttered, biting his wiry mustache. "I should have come and seen for myself if there was another way out."
Leroux, in a new flutter of excitement, now craned from the window.
"It might be possible to climb down the shaft," he cried, after a brief survey, "but not if one were carrying a heavy grip, such as that which he has taken!"
"H'm!" said Dunbar. "You are a writing gentleman, I understand, and yet it does not occur to you that he could have lowered the bag on a cord, if he wanted to avoid the noise of dropping it!"
"Yes—er—of course!" muttered Leroux. "But really—but really—oh, good God! I am bewildered! What in Heaven's name does it all mean!"
"It means trouble," replied Dunbar, grimly; "bad trouble."
They returned to the study, and Inspector Dunbar, for the first time since his arrival, walked across and examined the fragmentary message, raising his eyebrows when he discovered that it was written upon the same paper as Leroux's MSS. He glanced, too, at the pen lying on a page of "Martin Zeda" near the lamp and at the inky splash which told how hastily the pen had been dropped.
Then—his brows drawn together—he stooped to the body of the murdered woman. Partially raising the fur cloak, he suppressed a gasp of astonishment.
"Why! she only wears a silk night-dress, and a pair of suede slippers!"
He glanced back over his shoulder.
"I had noted that," said Cumberly. "The whole business is utterly extraordinary."
"Extraordinary is no word for it!" growled the inspector, pursuing his examination… . "Marks of pressure at the throat—yes; and generally unhealthy appearance."
"Due to the drug habit," interjected Dr. Cumberly.
"What drug?"
"I should not like to say out of hand; possibly morphine."
"No jewelry," continued the detective, musingly; "wedding ring—not a new one. Finger nails well cared for, but recently neglected. Hair dyed to hide gray patches; dye wanted renewing. Shoes, French. Night-robe, silk; good lace; probably French, also. Faint perfume—don't know what it is—apparently proceeding from civet fur. Furs, magnificent; very costly."…
He slightly moved the table-lamp in order to direct its light upon the white face. The bloodless lips were parted and the detective bent, closely peering at the teeth thus revealed.
"Her teeth were oddly discolored, doctor," he said, taking out a magnifying glass and examining them closely. "They had been recently scaled, too; so that she was not in the habit of neglecting them."
Dr. Cumberly nodded.
"The drug habit, again," he said guardedly; "a proper examination will establish the full facts."
The inspector added brief notes to those already made, ere he rose from beside the body. Then:—
"You are absolutely certain," he said, deliberately, facing Leroux, "that you had never set eyes on this woman prior to her coming here, to-night?"
"I can swear it!" said Leroux.
"Good!" replied the detective, and closed his notebook with a snap. "Usual formalities will have to be gone through, but I don't think I need trouble you, gentlemen, any further, to-night."
Chapter 5 DOCTORS DIFFER
Dr. Cumberly walked slowly upstairs to his own flat, a picture etched indelibly upon his mind, of Henry Leroux, with a face of despair, sitting below in his dining-room and listening to the ominous sounds proceeding from the study, where the police were now busily engaged. In the lobby he met his daughter Helen, who was waiting for him in a state of nervous suspense.
"Father!" she began, whilst rebuke died upon the doctor's lips—"tell me quickly what has happened."
Perceiving that an explanation was unavoidable, Dr. Cumberly outlined the story of the night's gruesome happenings, whilst Big Ben began to chime the hour of one.
Helen, eager-eyed, and with her charming face rather pale, hung upon every word of the narrative.
"And now," concluded her father, "you must go to bed. I insist."
"But father!" cried the girl—"there is some thing"…
She hesitated, uneasily.
"Well, Helen, go on," said the doctor.
"I am afraid you will refuse."
"At least give me the opportunity."
"Well—in the glimpse, the half-glimpse, which I had of her, I seemed"…
Dr. Cumberly rested his hands upon his daughter's shoulders characteristically, looking into the troubled gray eyes.
"You don't mean," he began…
"I thought I recognized her!" whispered the girl.
"Good God! can it be possible?"
"I have been trying, ever since, to recall where we had met, but without result. It might mean so much"…
Dr. Cumberly regarded her, fixedly.
"It might mean so much to—Mr. Leroux. But I suppose you will say it is impossible?"
"It IS impossible," said Dr. Cumberly firmly; "dismiss the idea, Helen."
"But father," pleaded the girl, placing her hands over his own, "consider what is at stake"…
"I am anxious that you should not become involved in this morbid business."
"But you surely know me better than to expect me to faint or become hysterical, or anything silly like that! I was certainly shocked when I came down to-night, because—well, it was all so frightfully unexpected"…
Dr. Cumberly shook his head. Helen put her arms about his neck and raised her eyes to his.
"You have no right to refuse," she said, softly: "don't you see that?"
Dr. Cumberly frowned. Then:—
"You are right, Helen," he agreed. "I should know your pluck well enough. But if Inspector Dunbar is gone, the police may refuse to admit us"…
"Then let us hurry!" cried Helen. "I am afraid they will take away"…
Side by side they descended to Henry Leroux's flat, ringing the bell, which, an hour earlier, the lady of the civet furs had rung.
A sergeant in uniform opened the door.
"Is Detective-Inspector Dunbar here?" inquired the physician.
"Yes, sir."
"Say that Dr. Cumberly wishes to speak to him. And"—as the man was about to depart—"request him not to arouse Mr. Leroux."
Almost immediately the inspector appeared, a look of surprise upon his face, which increased on perceiving the girl beside her father.
"This is my daughter, Inspector," explained Cumberly; "she is a contributor to the Planet, and to various magazines, and in this journalistic capacity, meets many people in many walks of life. She thinks she may be of use to you in preparing your case."
Dunbar bowed rather awkwardly.
"Glad to meet you, Miss Cumberly," came the inevitable formula. "Entirely at your service."
"I had an idea, Inspector," said the girl, laying her hand confidentially upon Dunbar's arm, "that I recognized, when I entered Mr. Leroux's study, tonight"—Dunbar nodded—"that I recognized—the—the victim!"