“That’s exactly what I think it was. Caleb must have gone out of the room. We’ll be safe in entering now.”
To make certain she listened for a few minutes but there was no sound of movement from within. Convinced that the coast was clear, she groped about for the knob which opened the panel.
It turned in her hand. She heard a sharp metallic click, and almost before she was prepared for it, the panel swung open. It closed again before either of the girls could recover from their surprise.
However, Penny turned the knob a second time and as the section of wall swung back, both girls stepped through into the room.
As they had expected, it was deserted.
“Where do you suppose he went?” Rosanna murmured.
They tiptoed to the outside door and softly opened it. The hall was dark. At first they could distinguish nothing. Then Penny noticed that the door opening upon the second floor corridor was ajar.
“He went downstairs,” she whispered. “Let’s find out what he’s up to.”
The stairs creaked alarmingly as they crept down to the second floor. On the landing they hesitated an instant and were relieved to hear no unusual sound.
They peered into the long corridor and saw that it was empty. Caleb was nowhere to be seen.