Some one was coming down in the darkness. Harry heard two whispered voices. One sounded like that of Vernon. The door closed above; but the one person still came downward.
Harry heard the footsteps go across the cellar floor. Silence followed. Harry switched on his light.
This was a small cellar — a single room, yet it was entirely empty. There was an open bin in the corner. Harry investigated it. It was backed with wood against the wall.
Puzzling over the situation, Harry began to form a theory.
A man had disappeared from the cellar of Blair Windsor’s house. A man had disappeared here. The inference was that a passage lay between the two buildings.
Vernon was probably the person who had disappeared from Windsor’s home. He had come to visit the old man in the farmhouse. Now he had returned.
Harry was on the point of investigating the bin, when it occurred to him that an inspection of Windsor’s cellar would be more suitable. There, at least, he might have some excuse for prowling. Here he was a trespasser.
He turned out his light and climbed from the cellar window. As he arose to his feet something fell upon him from the darkness The quickness of the surprise attack overcame him before he could even gasp.
He received a stunning blow that rendered him almost incapable of motion. His arms were pinned beneath him; a cloth was thrust in his mouth.
Handcuffs clicked on his wrists. His captor was sitting on him so that he could not move his legs. Quick hands strapped Harry’s ankles.