“Well, I’ve read about them, and I’ve heard about them, but this is the first I ever saw.” The torch lighted up the passage for some distance, and as the big man peered into it, he went on: “It’s all properly mouldy, and it’s got the water trickling between the bricks, the damp patches and the fungus, just as Sylvanus Cobb and the others used to write about.”
But, underneath the astonishment, his mind had apparently been moving, for he went on in another tone:
“The crude oil was put on the working parts by the fellows at the inn when they found that the stone didn’t move smoothly. And now,” turning upon Ashton-Kirk, “I am wise to all the interest that’s been taken in the river bank of late. This passage opens somewhere on the bank, and I was the only one that didn’t know it.”
But Ashton-Kirk shook his head.
“I didn’t know it,” said he. “But I did suspect. The fact that certain persons gained entrance to the cellar whenever they felt disposed to do so pointed very strongly to the existence of just such a passage as this. That it did not appear in the plan of the castle of which Kretz spoke meant nothing; such things are never shown in plans. My attention was attracted toward the river bank as a possible place for the passage’s outlet, because Schwartzberg is near the bank, and it has always been a custom to have such secret ways lead down to the brinks of rivers wherever possible. A river, I suppose, suggested a way of escape.”
As the crime specialist ceased speaking, he entered the passage, and Scanlon followed. It was almost circular in shape, and the big man could walk without bending his head.
“Fortunately for the builder, the stone through which the cut was made was soft, as I showed you the other day,” said Ashton-Kirk. “If it had been good solid granite, I think Schwartzberg would have been left without its secret way.”
At the far end of the tunnel daylight filtered in between some faded tangled growth. A heap of stones, cement clinging to them, lay in the way.
“The tunnel was sealed,” said Ashton-Kirk, “and when the criminals laid siege to the castle they broke it open.”
Bat Scanlon protruded his head; in a few moments he drew it back.