He felt that there was a chance that whoever had opened the door to admit McCarney had failed to fasten it securely. At any rate, he decided to try this first. Accordingly, he walked boldly over to the house and ascended the steps. If discovered, he could simply ask for a “fake” name, like one who has gotten the wrong house by mistake.
He reached the front door unchallenged, and gently tried the knob. As he suspected, the latch had not quite caught, and as he pressed against the door it swung open before him. Noiselessly he entered the dark hallway and closed the door gently behind him.
Within the house it was so dark that at first Joe could see nothing at all. As his eyes became accustomed to the gloom, however, objects in the dark hallway became apparent to him.
To right and left were closed doors, while directly ahead a long narrow staircase wound upward to the floor above. Joe listened intently for some sound to guide him, but at first he could hear nothing. He tiptoed cautiously over to one of the closed doors and listened there, and then at the other, but could hear no sound. Suddenly, he heard a subdued murmur of voices on the floor above, and he decided that in all probability McCarney was up there. He was about to start the ascent of the stairs when he was startled by the ringing of an electric bell almost over his head, and at the same time some one tried the handle of the front door by which Joe had entered.
A chair was pushed back in the room upstairs, and Joe surmised that in another moment one or more of the inhabitants would descend the stairs in answer to the ring of the newcomer. There was not a second to lose if he were to escape detection, and Joe’s mind acted with lightning rapidity. Escape to the street was barred, he knew, and it would be hopeless to try to get to the upper landing in time to avoid whoever it was who was coming to open the door.
His only chance was to get through one of the doors that flanked the hall on either side, and as this thought flashed through his mind he stepped swiftly to the one to his right and turned the knob. The door held fast, and he knew that it must be locked from the inside.
A door opened upstairs, and Joe could hear heavy footsteps starting down the stairs. Fortunately, the staircase made a sharp turn near the top, so that as yet Joe was concealed from the sight of the man descending.
Again the bell rang, as the ringer grew impatient of waiting. Another instant, and Joe’s last chance of escaping detection would be gone. Swiftly he stepped to the other door, his one remaining chance, and breathed a heartfelt prayer of gratitude when he found that the door opened to his touch.
In a second he was within the room, with the door closed behind him. He glanced swiftly about, taking stock of his surroundings. Luckily there was nobody in the place, which was sparsely furnished with a table and a few shabby chairs.
With his ear close to the door, Joe could hear the newcomer enter and then he heard two persons ascending the stairs. There came the bang of a closing door from the upper floor, and Joe judged that it would be safe enough to venture out again.