“No, but the other fellow might.”
“The murderer? It isn’t likely, is it?”
“I hate giving up the idea,” said Alec reluctantly. “After all, it’s the only possible explanation of his disappearance, as far as I can see.”
Roger suddenly smote his hands together. “By Jove! There’s one hope left. Idiot not to have thought of it before! The fireplace!”
“The fireplace?”
“Of course! That’s where most of these old houses have their secret hiding places. It will be there if anywhere.”
He hurried back into the library, Alec close at his heels. There he stopped suddenly short.
“Oh, Lord, I was forgetting that the blessed place had been bricked in so very thoroughly.” He gazed at the modern intrusion without enthusiasm. “That’s hopeless, I’m afraid.”
Alec looked thoughtfully round the room. “I don’t think we’ve examined these walls enough, you know,” he remarked hopefully. “There’s plenty of scope in this panelling really.”
Roger shook his head. “It’s just possible, but I’m very much afraid that——” He caught a sudden and violent frown from Alec, and broke off in mid-sentence. The door was opening softly.