The hand emerged, holding a bottle. He pushed the door shut. Reaching on the other side, he fumbled gently in the dark, and produced another bottle. Both looked alike as he saw them in the faint glow. Slade put the first bottle where the second had been. Holding the second bottle, he suddenly flattened himself along the eaves.
A man entered the bathroom and turned on the light. Slade could not see him, but he could tell that the man was portly, because of his heavy stride, which sounded cumbersome.
There was a rattling of glassware.
In the light, this man who knew the house, was clumsy in searching for the object he wished. Slade had worked much more smoothly in the dark, although handicapped by unfamiliarity. The light went out. Hearing footsteps leaving, Slade boldly edged himself to the window and peered in to see a stout man going into the hall.
Without a moment's hesitation, Slade replaced the bottle that he held exactly where he had gotten it. He laughed softly as he noticed an open place ready for him to set the bottle. The job was ended. The mysterious visitor glided along the eaves, down the post, and off through the hedge. He left as stealthily as he had arrived.
Back in the house, the heavy man was shaking four pills out of a bottle. Small white pills, he laid them on his tongue and swallowed a glass of water. He laid the bottle aside. He sat down in a comfortable chair, and began to read a newspaper.
It was not long before a sudden change came over the man. His face took on a troubled look. He placed his hands to his stout body. He was undergoing an unexpected pain.
He arose and made his way to a couch. There, he collapsed. His form heaved slowly for a short time. At last, it ceased to move.
A few minutes later, a long, weird shadow crept across the floor of the room. It showed upon the side of the couch, where the man lay motionless. It seemed to crawl upward like a hand of the night. Then a man in black stood in full view. Garbed in dark cloak and hat— even his hands covered by black silk gloves, and his face invisible beneath the hat brim, he might have come from nowhere. He bent over the prone man, and touched his body. The man was dead!
The mysterious visitor spied the bottle of pills. He raised it and examined it. He removed one pill, and dropped it back in the bottle. He placed the bottle where he had found it. THE man in black paused to listen. Someone was coming up the stairs. Quickly, the visitor swept from the room.