Dalrye looked towards the door with dull eyes. It had become like a warning, repeated over and over until it grows horrible. The telephone bell was ringing again.
There was nothing in that ring that should have sent a chill through anybody. But Rampole went cold. And in the silence beneath the clamour of that insistent bell Dr- Fell said:
'I shouldn't let Miss Bitton answer that, Hadley.'
Hadley was out of the door in a moment into the study, and the door closed behind him.
While nobody moved, the rest of them could hear Sheila moving about in the kitchen down the passage Hadley did not speak for a long time on the phone. He opened the study door presently… they could hear the sharp squeak of its hinge. Then he came with slow steps down the passage, entered, and closed the dining-room door behind him.
It's all up,' he said. 'Get your coats on.'
'What is it?' the doctor asked.
The chief inspector put a hand over his eyes.
'I know what you mean now. I should have seen what sort of mood he was in when he left us. At least, I should have been warned by what Miss Bitton said. That was the way he said he wanted to die.'
Dr Fell brought his hand slowly down on the table. 'Is it…?'