“Is that all you require, Inspector?” Jefferson asked.
“Yes, sir; quite. And I’ve had my journey for nothing, I’m afraid. Still, we have to go into everything, as you know.”
“Oh, naturally,” Jefferson murmured, turning away from the safe.
“And now I must get back and finish my report,” the inspector continued. “The coroner will communicate with you this afternoon as soon as I’ve seen him again.”
“Oh, by the way, Inspector,” Mrs. Plant put in, “Mr. Sheringham was telling me that I might be wanted to attend the inquest. Is that necessary?”
“I’m afraid so, madam. You were the last person to see Mr. Stanworth alive.”
“Yes, but my—my evidence wouldn’t be of the least importance, would it? The few words I had with him about those roses can’t throw any light on the matter at all.”
“I’m very sorry, madam,” the inspector murmured, “but in these cases the last person to see the deceased alive is invariably called, whether the evidence appears to be of any importance or not.”
“Oh! Then I must take it as quite certain that I shall have to attend?” Mrs. Plant asked disappointedly.
“Quite, madam,” the inspector returned firmly, moving towards the door.
Roger hooked his arm through that of Alec and drew him out through the French windows.
“Well?” asked the latter with an undisguised grin. “Still as sure as ever that those jewels weren’t in the safe, Sherlock Sheringham?”
“Yes. I’ve been expecting a little subtle ridicule from you, Alec,” Roger said with mock humility. “No doubt I deserve it.”
“I’m glad you’re beginning to realise that,” retorted Alec pleasantly.
“Yes, for drawing the only possible conclusions from a given set of facts. Well, I suppose we shall have to go back to the beginning again, and start to draw some impossible ones instead.”
“Oh, Lord!” Alec groaned.
“But seriously, Alec,” said Roger with a change of tone, “things are going very curiously. Those jewels ought not to have been in the safe at all, you know. Nor the money either, for that matter. It’s all wrong.”
“Most annoying when things break rules like that, isn’t it? Well, I suppose you’ll allow now that Mrs. Plant was speaking the truth this morning, after all.”
“I suppose I shall have to,” said Roger reluctantly. “For the present, at any rate. But it’s very, very extraordinary.”
“That Mrs. Plant should have been speaking the truth? It seemed to me far more extraordinary that she should have been lying, as you were so jolly sure.”
“All right, Alec. Don’t get rattled. No, I wasn’t meaning that exactly. But that she should have been so remarkably agitated about those jewels of hers, as if she thought that somebody was going to steal them! And then that yarn of hers that she thought the police would take them and she wouldn’t get them back. No, say what you like, Alec, it is extraordinary.”
“Women are extraordinary,” said Alec wisely.
“Humph! Certainly Mrs. Plant is.”
“Well, at any rate, she’s exonerated, I take it.”
“No, that she isn’t,” said Roger with decision. “That lady isn’t free from suspicion yet by any means. After all, the matter of the jewels is only one of several curious circumstances. But look here, Alec; another remarkable thing has cropped up since I saw you last. I’m going to tell you, because I promised I’d share anything new with you at the very beginning. But I won’t unless you’ll promise to take it quite calmly, and not smite me with that great ham-fist of yours or throw yourself despairingly into a rose bush or anything. You know, you’re a very difficult sort of person to work with on this sort of job, Alec.”
“Fire away!” Alec grunted. “What’s happened now?”
“You won’t like it, but I can’t help that. After all, I’m only telling you facts, not theories; and there’s no getting away from them, however unwelcome they may be. It’s about Lady Stanworth this time. Listen.”
And Roger embarked upon a voluble recital of The Strange Behaviour of Lady Stanworth.
XII
Hidden Chambers and What-Nots
“Oh!” said Alec carefully, when Roger had finished.
“You see? I carefully refrain from drawing any deduction. Aloud, at any rate. All I say is that it looks funny.”
“Lots of things seem to look funny to you, Roger,” Alec remarked tolerantly.
“About this case?” Roger retorted. “You’re quite right. Lots of things do. But let’s put all these side issues behind us for the moment. There’s one thing that I’m simply aching to set about.”
“Only one?” said Alec nastily. “And what’s that?”
“To find out how the murderer got away from the library last night. If we can solve that little problem, we’ve cleared up the last remaining difficulty as far as the committing of the murder goes.”
“Yes, I suppose we have,” Alec replied thoughtfully. “But it seems to me that we’ve rather got our work cut out there, haven’t we? I mean, it’s pretty well impossible for a man to get out of a room like that and leave everything locked up behind him, you know.”
“On the contrary, that’s just what it isn’t; because he did it. And it’s up to us to find out how.”
“Got any ideas about it?” Alec asked with interest.
“Not a one! At least, I can think of one very obvious way. We’ll test that first, at any rate. The library’s empty now, and I expect Jefferson will be pretty busy for the rest of the afternoon. We can sleuth away in peace.”
They turned their steps in the direction of the library.
“And what is the obvious solution to the library mystery?” Alec asked. “I’m blessed if I can see one.”
Roger looked at him curiously. “Can’t you really?” he said.
“No, I’m dashed if I can.”
“Well—what about a secret door, then?”
“Oh!” Alec observed blankly. “Yes, I didn’t seem to think of that.”
“It’s the only obvious way. And it’s not outside the possibilities by any means in an old house like this. Especially in the library, which hasn’t been pulled about so much as some of the other rooms.”
“That’s true enough,” said Alec, quite excitedly. “Roger,
