"If you please, sir," the man replied.
They hurried out of the front door and around to the side of the house. The lights were certainly burning in the room and the blind was half drawn up. Arnold reached the window-sill with a spring and peered in.
"I can see nothing," he said to Groves. "There doesn't seem to be any one in the room."
"Can you get in, sir?" the man asked from below. "The sash seems to be unfastened."
Arnold tried it and found it yielded to his touch. He pushed it up and vaulted lightly into the room. Then he saw that a table was overturned and a key was lying on the floor. He picked it up and fitted it into the door. Fenella was waiting outside.
"I can see nothing here," he announced, "but a table has been upset."
She pointed to the sofa and gripped his arm.
"Look!" she cried. "What is that?"
Arnold felt a thrill of horror, and for a moment the room swam before his eyes. Then he saw clearly again. From underneath the upholstery of the sofa, a man's hand was visible stretching into the room almost as far as his elbow. They both stared, Arnold stupefied with horror. On the little finger of the hand was a ring with a blood-red seal!