“Where did you find this?”
“Wedged in between the stairs and the wall,” the inspector answered. “There is a larger piece higher up, but this is enough for me.”
“And for me!” Steadman said grimly.
“Gordon is the best carpenter and joiner I know,” the inspector went on. “We keep him permanently available for our work. He will soon find the way to the Yellow Room and then—well, some of the Yellow Gang's secrets will be in our hands at any rate.”
As the last word left his lips Gordon came in with another man. Both carried bags of tools. The inspector gave them a few instructions in a low tone, then he pointed to the staircase.
“Last night that was not there. Where it stands an opening went straight through to the next house.”
Gordon touched his head in salute.
“Very good, sir!” He looked in his basket and chose out a couple of tools—chisels, and a strange-looking bar, tapering down to a point as fine as a knife, but very long and several inches thick most of the way to the other end. Then, apparently undeterred by the magnitude of his task, he walked up to the top of the staircase and sat down on the top step. His assistant followed with a collection of hammers ranging from one small enough for a doll's house to the size used by colliers in the pits. They held a consultation together, and then Gordon inserted his chisel in a crack. The other man raised one of the mighty hammers and brought it down with a crash that rang through the house. It did not rouse the master of the dwelling, however. He seemed to have taken permanent refuge in the kitchen. There were no children's heads hanging over the banisters now. The house might have been absolutely deserted but for the inspector and his party. Presently the inspector went up to the couple on the stairs and after talking to them for a minute or two came back to Steadman.
“The whole staircase is movable, Mr. Steadman. They have loosened it at the top. Stand aside in one of the rooms in case it comes down quicker than we expect. No doubt the Yellow Gang had some way of opening it which we have not discovered, but this will serve well enough.”
“What about the children upstairs?” Steadman asked.