"Will she die?" he gasped.
"No, she will not die," Ralph said coolly. "Had I intended her to die I should not have allowed you to open the door. Pick her up and throw her on one of the beds in a spare room. She will require no attention, but she will not attain consciousness for some hours. And, after that, she will be useless for a day or two. You need not worry; our scheme is working out splendidly. Pick her up."
Ralph indicated the still figure with brutal indifference. He would have shown more consideration to a sick dog. Geoffrey complied, and presently made the woman as comfortable as circumstances allowed.
Geoffrey had hardly done so before there was a light footfall in the corridor, and Tchigorsky appeared, still in disguise.
"I gather that things are well," he said. "Just now I met that she-devil's accomplices fleeing as if the Father of Lies was behind them. She was trapped, eh?"
Ralph nodded and chuckled.
"In Geoffrey's room," he explained. "When she was testing her apparatus I had the key turned on her. And she could not get out. I let her remain there as long as I considered it safe to do so, and her yells must have alarmed her confederates. Probably they have fled, leaving things intact."
"Probably," said Tchigorsky. "I will go and see."
He was back again presently, a pleased expression on his face.
"Nothing has been touched," he said. "I have removed the wires, in case of danger. We have the lady more or less under our thumb."