The second victim had been slain within the walls of this mysterious room!
CHAPTER VI
DEATH UNEXPLAINED
STANDING in the doorway of the study, Detective Sergeant Mayhew gazed quickly about the room in search of an unknown enemy.
There was murder here — but where was the man who had committed the crime? Mayhew spied the open window. Even as he thought of it as an avenue for escape, he heard the strident treble of a whistle from the courtyard beneath.
Then came a banging at the outer door of the apartment. Mayhew hurried in that direction. A plainclothes man entered.
“Two patrolmen coming up,” he explained. “I was out front. Heard your whistle. What’s happened?”
“Stay right here,” ordered Mayhew. “Watch this door. There’s been a murder!”
He rushed into the study and hastened to the window. He leaned across the sill, and gazed downward into the glare of a powerful electric lantern.
Mayhew’s hands pressed against metal hooks, and he saw a collapsible ladder hanging beneath him.