The Black Box Part 13

He took a courteous leave of them all and departed. Lenora crossed the room to where Quest was seated at the table.

"Mr. Quest," she asked, "do you believe in inspiration?"

"I attribute a large amount of my success," Quest replied, "to my profound belief in it."

"Then let me tell you," Lenora continued, "that I have one and a very strong one. Do you know that when I went to the door a few minutes ago, the Professor's servant, Craig, was there, listening?"

"Craig?" Quest repeated. "Let me see, that was the man who was at the Rheinholdts' house the night of the robbery, and who might have left through the conservatory."

"He did leave by it," Lenora declared. "He is in a state of panic at the present moment. What else do you suppose he was out there listening for?"

"The Professor speaks very highly of him," Quest reminded her.

"The Professor is just one of those amiable old idiots, absorbed in his mouldy old work, who would never notice anything," Lenora persisted. "He is just the man to be completely hoodwinked by a clever servant."

"There is some sense in what the kid says," Laura remarked, strolling up.

"The fact remains that Craig was one of the few men who could have got at the necklace that night, and he is also one of the few who knew about the skeleton."

Quest sighed as he lit a cigar.

"It is a miserably obvious solution," he said. "To tell you the truth, girls, our friend Inspector French has had his men watching Craig ever since the night of the robbery. What's that? Answer the telephone, Lenora."

Lenora obeyed.

"It's Inspector French," she announced. "He wants to speak to you."

Quest nodded, and held out his hand for the receiver.

"Hullo, French," he exclaimed. "Anything fresh?"

"Nothing much!" was the answer. "One of my men, though, who has been up Mayton Avenue way, brought in something I found rather interesting this morning. I want you to come round and see it."

"Go right ahead and tell me about it," Quest invited.

"You know we've been shadowing Craig," the Inspector continued. "Not much luck up till now. Fellow seems never to leave his master's side. We have had a couple of men up there, though, and one of them brought in a curious-looking object he picked up just outside the back of the Professor's grounds. It's an untidy sort of neighbourhood, you know--kind of waste ground they commenced to build over, and then the real estate man who had it in hand, went smash."

"What is the thing?" Quest asked.

"Well, I want to see whether you agree with me," French went on. "If you can't come round, I'll come to you."

"No necessity," Quest replied. "We've got over little difficulties of that sort. Laura, just tack on the phototelesme," he added, holding the receiver away for a moment. "One moment, French. There, that's right," he added, as Laura, with deft fingers, arranged what seemed to be a sensitised mirror to the instrument. "Now, French, hold up the article just in front of the receiver."

French's reply was a little brusque.

"What are you getting at, Quest?" he demanded. "You are not going to pretend that you can see from your room into this, are you?"

"If you'll hold the object where I told you," Quest replied, "I can see it. I promise you that. There, that's right. Hold it steady. I've got the focus of it now. Say, French, where did you say that was found?"

"Just outside the Professor's back gates," French grunted, "but you're not kidding me--"

"It's a finger from the Professor's skeleton you've got there," Quest interrupted.

"How the blazes did you guess that?" the Inspector demanded.

"I'm not kidding," Quest a.s.sured him. "I've got a phototelesme at work here. I've seen the bone all right. French, this is interesting. I must think it over."

Quest hung up the receiver and rang off. Then he turned towards his two a.s.sistants.

"Another finger from the Professor's skeleton," he announced, "has been found just outside his grounds. What do you suppose that means?"

"Craig," Lenora declared confidently.

"Craig on your life," Laura echoed. "Say, Mr. Quest, I've got an idea."

Quest nodded.

"Get right ahead with it."

"Didn't the butler at Mrs. Rheinholdt's say that Craig belonged to a servants' club up town? I know the place well. Let me go and see if I can't join and pick up a little information about the man. He must have a night out sometimes. Let's find out what he does. How's that?"

"Capital!" Quest agreed. "Get along, Laura. And you, Lenora," he added, "put on your hat. We'll take a ride towards Mayton Avenue."

2.

The exact spot where the bone of the missing skeleton was discovered, was easily located. It was about twenty yards from a gate which led into the back part of the Professor's grounds. The neighbourhood was dreary in the extreme. There were half-finished houses, little piles of building materials, heaps of stones, a watchman's shed, and all the dreary paraphernalia of an abandoned building enterprise. Quest wasted very little time before arriving at a decision.

"The discovery of the bone so near the Professor's house," he decided, "cannot be coincidence only. We will waste no time out here, Lenora. We will search the grounds. Come on."

They advanced towards the gate but found it locked. The wall was unusually high as though to obscure a view of anything that lay on the other side.

Quest noticed with interest that, in places where it had shown signs of crumbling away, it had been repaired. He contemplated the lock thoughtfully and drew a little instrument from his pocket, an instrument which had the appearance of a many-sided key.

"Looks like storming the fortress, eh?" he remarked. "Here goes, any way."

The gate swung open with a single turn of the wrist. Quest glanced for a moment at the lock and replaced the instrument in his pocket.

"The Professor's not looking for visitors," he muttered. "Gee! What a wilderness!"

It was hard to know which way to turn. Every path was choked with tangled weeds and bushes. Here and there remained one or two wonderful old trees, but the vegetation for the greater part consisted of laurel and other shrubs, which from lack of attention had grown almost into a jungle. They wandered about almost aimlessly for nearly half-an-hour. Then Quest came to a sudden standstill. Lenora gripped his arm. They had both heard the same sound--a queer, crooning little cry, half plaintive, half angry.

Quest looked over his right shoulder along a narrow, overgrown path which seemed to end abruptly in an evergreen hedge.

"What's that?" he exclaimed.

Lenora still clung to his arm.

"I hate this place," she whispered. "It terrifies me. What are we looking for, Mr. Quest?"

"Can't say that I know exactly," the latter answered, "but I guess we'll find out where that cry came from. Sounded to me uncommonly like a human effort."