Only for a second did the man cast his eyes in the direction of Bhag’s den, and then:
“All right,” he said. “Follow me.”
He went out into the corridor and turned, not toward the hall but in the opposite direction. Ten paces farther down he stopped and opened a door, so cunningly set in the panelling, and so placed between the two shaded lights that illuminated the corridor, that it was difficult to detect its presence. He put in his hand, turned on a light, and Michael saw a long flight of stairs leading back toward the hall.
As he followed the baronet, he realized that the “tower” was something of an illusion. It was only a tower if viewed from the front of the house. Otherwise it was an additional two narrow storeys built on one wing of the building.
They passed through a door, up a circular staircase, and came to the corridor where Michael had seen Bhag squatting on the previous night.
“This is the room,” said Penne, opening a door.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE MARKS OF THE BEAST
“On the contrary, it is not the room,” said Michael quietly. “The room is at the end of the passage.”
The man hesitated.
“Can’t you believe me?” he asked in an almost affable tone of voice. “What a sceptical chap you are! Now come, Brixan! I don’t want to be bad friends with you. Let’s go down and have a drink and forget our past animosities. I’m feeling rotten——”