"
Smith's pipe had gone out as usual, and he proceeded to relight it,
whilst, my eyes lowered, I continued to drum upon the table.
"This boy took her some tea later in the afternoon," he continued,
"and apparently found her in a more placid frame of mind. I returned
immediately after dusk, and he reported that when last he had looked
in, about half an hour earlier, she had been seated in an armchair
reading a newspaper (I may mention that everything of value in the
office was securely locked up!). I was determined upon a certain
course by this time, and I went slowly upstairs, unlocked the door,
and walked into the darkened office. I turned up the light ... the
place was empty!"
"Empty!"
"The window was open, and the bird flown! Oh! it was not so simple a
flight--as you would realize if you knew the place. The street, which
the window overlooked, was bounded by a blank wall, on the opposite
side, for thirty or forty yards along; and as we had been having heavy
rains, it was full of glutinous mud. Furthermore, the boy whom I had
left in charge had been sitting in the doorway immediately below the
office window watching for my return ever since his last visit to the
room above...."
"She must have bribed him," I said bitterly, "or corrupted him with
her infernal blandishments."
"I'll swear she did not," rapped Smith decisively. "I know my man, and
I'll swear she did not. There were no marks in the mud of the road to
show that a ladder had been placed there; moreover, nothing of the
kind could have been attempted whilst the boy was sitting in the
doorway; that was evident.
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